Dropbox Inc, a file-sharing and storage start-up, is planning to raise $250 million in additional funding. The funding would take the value of the fast growing company to over $8 billion, as reported by Bloomberg Businessweek.
Dropbox joins the elite list of tech start ups
The six-year-old company joins the list of the Silicon Valley start-up that enjoys investor’s confidence and premium valuations for a tech startup. Twitter Inc (TWTR), which is still running in loses and recently came out with an IPO, is valued at $20 billion. Another tech firm, Pinterest, which recently clarified its business model, bagged a fresh round of financing, valuing the company at $3.8 billion.
In 2011, Dropbox raised $250 million from Goldman Sachs and other investment firm including Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Accel Partners. However, most of the fund raised is still in bank, Mr. Houston told at a technology conference in San Francisco.
Dropbox refused to comment on the matter, according to Bloomberg.
Competition intensifying
Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduates Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. Dropbox gained popularity soon owing to its easy handling and attractive interface that helps users to synchronize files across multiple devices and operating systems.
In recent years, owing to increased competition from Google Inc (Goog) and Amazon.com, Inc (AMZN), Dropbox has experienced declining sales growth. The cloud storage firm recorded $116 million in sales last year versus $46 million in revenue in 2011 and $12 million, a year before. According to the reports, this year the company is expecting to revenues of more than $200 million.
Dropbox need to boost its sales and engineering teams to compete with the likes of Microsoft Corporation (MSFT), Google and Box (a start-up) in the field of cloud storage. According to a report from Reuters, earlier this month, rivals start-up Box is planning to come up with an initial public offering, in 2014.
According to Dropbox, the upgrade it unveiled last week is one of the most comprehensive till date for its businesses. The upgrades include a feature that allows users to manage both personal and corporate accounts easily. The upgrade may prove useful against mighty rivals like Microsoft and Amazon, who are making rapid development in the cloud-storage space.
Mr. Houston and co-founder Arash Ferdowsi told in a blog on Nov. 13 “It’ll be like having your house keys and your company’s key-card on one keychain and with you at all times.”
