Birst, a San Francisco company that offers cloud-based business intelligence services, has scored a US$38 million venture investment led by existing backer Sequoia Capital and including newcomer Northgate Capital. Birst has raised $84 million to date, including $26 million last year in a round also led by Sequoia.
Birst, started in 2004 by a pair of Siebel Systems veterans, plans to use the fresh infusion of funding to expand internationally, grow sales and marketing, and improve its products. The company competes in a crowded field with industry stalwarts like IBM and Oracle, as well as with newer companies Qliktech and Jaspersoft.
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The company boasts big name customers include American Express, Cisco and Samsung, which use Birst's software-as-a-service technology to make better use of the reams of data they collect. Gartner recently slotted Birst into the Challenger segment of its Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms, according to the vendor.
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