2nd Watch Secures $10M in Series C1 Financing, Appoints New CEO
2nd Watch has raised $10 million in venture funding to extend a Series C round initiated in November 2013. It additionally announced a new CEO to lead the company’s efforts into 2015.
The Seattle-based provider of building, deploying and managing Amazon Web Services (AWS)-based IT operations for enterprise customers on Tuesday said the additional funding will be used to grow its sales, marketing and product development efforts, and expand into new geographic markets.
Top Tier Capital Partners led the Series C1 financing round, with participation from existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Columbia Capital. These additional funds bring the company’s total financing to date to $37.6 million.
Doug Schneider, who was recently was executive vice president and general manager at Melbourne IT, will replace founder Kris Bliesner as the company’s CEO. Bliesner will continue to lead the technical direction of the company as its CTO.
“The board wanted a leader who had been both an entrepreneur and seasoned business executive, had successfully scaled companies domestically and internationally, and had a deep understanding of enterprise and cloud technologies,” Schneider said. “My experience fit those requirements very well.”
Prior to 2nd Watch, Schneider was president at Verio, where he helped take the company public. He was also CEO at AllCall, which was sold to Nextel; Colorado Internet Services, which was acquired by Verio; Genea; and Transaction Wireless.
The company doesn’t have any immediate plans for additional fundraising. “We’re excited about how fast the business is growing and we will continue to invest in our offerings to provide an even better experience to our customers,” he said.
As 2nd Watch’s CEO, Schneider doesn’t plan on changing the company’s direction. “We’re just supersizing it,” he said. “Enterprise cloud management is a massive opportunity.”
“We have a proven platform and hundreds of very happy customers,” Schenider said. “Our plan is to continue capturing rapid market growth and delighting our customers even more.”
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