Sphera, a Boston maker of hosting automation software has raised $15 million in financing, and expects to add to the round
in the near future.
TLcom Capital Partners and Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP) led the round, with the participation of Gemini Israel Funds. JVP had previously provided Sphera
with seed funding in 1999, and Gemini had led Sphera’s first round of financing in October 2000.
Sphera’s flagship product, HostingDirector, automates Web hosting operations, helping companies that provide the service reduce costs.
“The fact that we were able to raise this money in today’s difficult financial market is a tremendous validation of our technology, product, and business model,” said
Tamar Naor, Sphera’s CEO.
As part of the financing, Mauro Pretolani, a partner at TLcom, will join Sphera’s board of directors.
“Sphera has an impressive list of strategic partners and leading customers in the US, Europe, and Japan,” Pretolani said. “We’re confident that this funding will allow
Sphera to fully leverage its strategic relationships, expand its sales, and establish itself as the undisputed market leader.”
Among Sphera’s customers are Dialtone in the United States, POPTEL in the United Kingdom and Toshiba in Japan. Sphera also recently announced a string of
partnerships. Among these is an agreement under which Mitsui has become Sphera’s distributor in Japan.
Privately held Sphera has additional offices in Washington, D.C., Frankfurt and London, and research and development facilities in Israel.