September 15, 2004
Verari Systems Closes $13.275 Million Series B Equity Round
www.verari.com
Carlyle Venture Partners leads investment in pioneering blade computing company
SAN DIEGO, Calif.
Verari System, the premier developer of powerful, platform-independent blade computing systems, announced today that it has completed a Series B equity financing round totaling $13.275 million. The round was led by Carlyle Venture Partners, a fund managed by The Carlyle Group, one of the largest private equity groups in the world with $19 billion under management and offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, including Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul and Bangalore. The round was oversubscribed and included participation from existing Verari Systems investors Sierra Ventures, Voyager Capital and Celerity Partners. The new funds increase the company’s total capital raised to $34.156 million to date.
Verari Systems will use this investment to increase research and development and expand worldwide sales, support and business operations to meet market demand for its BladeRack computing system product family.
Verari Systems has doubled its sales nearly every year since its inception in 1996 and has quickly grown to 265 employees worldwide. More than 4,000 customers, including Boeing, Industrial Light and Magic, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Motorola, NASA, NVIDIA, Northrop Grumman, Novartis, Pixar, and Shell, have chosen Verari Systems’ line of high-density blade server clusters, rack-optimized servers and high-performance technical workstations.
“Verari Systems is a clear leader in the rapidly expanding segment of blade computing,” said Bob Grady, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group. “Carlyle is very pleased to be working with Verari Systems, Chief Executive Officer Dave Driggers and the rest of the management team to accelerate the company’s already impressive growth.” In conjunction with the funding round, Verari Systems will add Mr. Grady to its board of directors.
“This funding milestone validates our vision of defining a new era in high performance utility computing for the next generation enterprise data center,” said David Driggers, CEO of Verari Systems. “The new funding will give us additional R&D resources for further innovation of our BladeRack blade computing design, and the ability to expand our international footprint.”
About Carlyle Venture Partners
The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $19 billion under management, which it invests in buyouts, real estate, leveraged finance, venture capital, and turnaround opportunities through a network of over 500 employees operating in 14 countries. Carlyle Venture Partners (“CVP”) is a leading venture capital fund focused on investing in companies providing technology infrastructure to the enterprise market, especially on companies selling technology into the telecommunications, defense and aerospace, automotive, health care, and logistics segments of the economy. CVP has a track record of working to create value in the companies in which it invests by working with management to identify and win new customers, forge business alliances, and expand globally.
About Verari Systems
Verari Systems, Inc., previously RackSaver, Inc., is the premier developer of powerful, flexible, and scalable platform-independent blade computing systems that are defining a new era in high-performance utility computing for the enterprise data center. Enterprises such as Boeing, Industrial Light and Magic, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Motorola, NASA, NVIDIA, Northrop Grumman, Novartis, Pixar, and Shell, as well as top universities and research institutions worldwide, are among the more than 4,000 customers that have chosen Verari Systems’ line of high-density blade server clusters, rack-optimized servers, and high-performance technical workstations. To learn more about Verari Systems and its unique solutions, please visit www.verari.com or call (888) 942-3800.