Accel Partners has led a $25 million (£16.4 million) investment into AirWatch, a transaction which represents a top up to its Series A.
AirWatch, which has locations in the US, UK, Australia and India, provides mobile security and enterprise mobility management.
Having been founded in 2003, the business was self-funded until it closed its nine-figure Series A round in February 2013 through a deal led by Insight Venture Partners.
Its technology tracks, monitors and manages an organisation’s mobile devices and is targeting the growing use of bring your own devices (BYOD).
The extra $25 million will be used to scale up AirWatch’s research and development team and support the adoption of its new service, Secure Content Locker.
John Marshall, president and CEO of AirWatch, comments, ‘Accel Partners and Insight Venture Partners recognise the massive potential of this space, and we are excited to partner with the best growth investors from both coasts.
‘Both firms have been collaborative, and we look forward to leveraging Insight’s resources and Accel’s network and expertise as our rapid growth presents new opportunities.
AirWatch, which has its UK base in Milton Keynes, has customers including PepsiCo, United Airlines and Lowe’s.
Accel Partners other UK-orientated dealmaking in 2013 has seen it team up with fellow venture capital backer Passion Capital to support the growth efforts of GoCardless. In April, Accel Partners took part in a round which saw the online payments business net $1.5 million.
Ryan Sweeney, partner at Accel Partners, adds, ‘We are proud to have partnered with both Insight Venture Partners and the best management team in mobile enterprise at AirWatch.
‘We believe that enterprise mobility currently represents the next big secular technological shift we will encounter, and AirWatch has emerged as the dominant company in this increasingly important category.’
