SAP NetWeaver Fund has made its first investment, participating in the recently announced $12.5 million round in Questra. According to the press release:
'SAP's investment in Questra is further evidence of the importance that SAP sees in the IDM market,' said Emil Wang, CEO of Questra. 'Questra's IDM solution is the 'last mile' connection that allows an enterprise to integrate the performance of their products at customer sites into the data infrastructure of their company provided by vendors such as SAP. By integrating these capabilities, customers can develop powerful new business processes.'
Questra was founded as a consulting company but transitioned to a software/service hybrid model in 2001 with the launch of Smart Service Solution. Based in Redwood, the company ushered in a new management team in 2004 led by current CEO Emil Wang. Wang joined after Latitude Communications (which he founded) was acquired by Cisco. This $12.5 million round is a Series D financing that includes existing VCs Menlo Park and Trident; as well as SAP.
The company defines itself as the leader in Intelligent Device Management (IDM), which it defines as:
IDM is the proactive management of remote devices in real time over the Internet. With IDM, device manufacturers can transform their service operations from reactive to proactive, reducing costs and delivering high-value remote services that drive customer loyalty, increase profitability, and change customer relationships.
Key Products:
No word on whether SAP will be taking a board seat or how this investment changes the already budding partnership between the two companies, but intellectually it's the kind of thing I imagined NetWeaver fund would target. Device management is a critical component to the extended enterprise, particularly as mobile productivity software enhancements continue apace, but it's probably not something SAP needs to focus on in-house right now.
Note: At the time of this writing I, and/or funds I maintain discretionary control over, maintained long equity positions in SAP and CSCO, but did not maintain a short equity position in any companies mentioned. We may also, at times, carry derivative options on underlying equity positions as a hedge.
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