In the Money
In the ASP business, $20 million is a lot of money these days, so the $15 million in equity funding and $5 million line of credit that Surebridge landed in late May is welcome news for the industry. The Massachusetts company, which provides application services to midsize businesses, says it has $27 million in cash and available capital; it announced $36 million in financing in February 2000. Surebridge also announced it will standardize on hardware from Compaq Computer, one of the investors in its latest round.
Consolidation (Continued)
Apprio, a Virginia ASP and integrator for Oracles Oracle11i e-business suite, is being acquired by information technology consultancy Application Technologies, known as AppsTech, which works with governments and multinational companies. Apprios clients, which include the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be assumed by AppsTech, based in Bethesda, Md. The private companies did not disclose the terms of the deal. . . . The end of May brought the end of eLedger, an early player in the now-crowded field of small-business accounting services. The privately held Ohio company will license its source code to users. Says one industry exec: “Within two weeks of announcing our funding, four of our competitors called to see if we would buy them.”
Changes for Consortium
The ASP Industry Consortium, which still boasts more than 700 members, announced new officers and directors in late May. Among the elite: Paula Hunter at Xevo, who succeeds founding Chairman Traver Gruen-Kennedy, and new President Tim Pickard at RSA Security.