PHP (PHP: hypertext preprocessor) developer Zend Technologies has completed a $10 million financing round.. The first part of the round was completed a year ago, with the participation of strategic investors Intel Capital and SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG. The Walden Israel, Platinum, Azure, and Index Ventures venture capital funds also participated in the round.
Zend said it would work with both Intel and SAP to continue the momentum of open source and PHP solutions for business-critical web applications. According to sources close to the company, it is about to become profitable.
"Companies can use PHP to develop custom applications and commercial web-based applications, such as an airline e-ticketing system," said Will Swope, vice president and general manager of Intel's Software and Solutions Group. "We're investing in companies that provide robust tools for the open source and PHP developer communities, letting enterprises deploy mission critical PHP applications in several weeks, instead of months. Intel will work with Zend to help the company optimize its PHP solution for use across Intel processor-based PCs and servers."
The investment by SAP in Zend, and its collaboration with the company, are the first after several years in which it refrained from investment in and cooperation with Israeli start ups. In the past, SAP invested in Israeli company TopTier, and eventually bought the company for $400 million.
"Strategic investments from Intel Capital and SAP Ventures will be used to build a commercial infrastructure to support PHP in the enterprise, further strengthening both the momentum PHP has and Zend's position as the PHP leader," said Zend president and CEO Doron Gerstel. "Our ongoing development of a solid ecosystem surrounding PHP makes it enterprise grade. Working with Intel and SAP will make it even stronger."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 24, 2005