Hightail announced today that it had received USD34 million in new funding from its latest Series E investment round. The file-sharing service was formerly called YouSendIt. Hard drive maker Western Digital led the investment round. Hightail had raised a total of USD83 million since its establishment nine years ago.
In a TechCrunch report, the tech news site pointed out that although the amount raised by Hightail was large, it paled in comparison to the amounts raised by its competitors. Dropbox said that it had been in discussion to seek more money after raising over USD250 million, while Box already raised over USD300 million.
Hightail Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse was interviewed by the tech news site this week and said that the timing and the size of its investment was in line with the tradition of the company, and was also at par with how it thinks about its future strategically.
Garlinghouse, "It's been almost 4 years since we last raised capital. We've been very judicious and very capital-aware in how we've grown the business, and we've always grown our revenues and our costs in lockstep. We haven't burned a lot of capital, and that's something we're proud of."
Since Hightail was already at Series E, TechCrunch asked Garlinghouse what Hightail's plans are to return investor's equity. Garlinghouse hinted at a possibility of a share sale or a merger and acquisition scenario.
"In the current environment, companies raise money at huge prices, and it limits their strategic availability. I've been in the Valley for 17 years, and I have a slightly longer view. We're building a company that will stand the test of time," Garlinghouse said.
However, he clarified that proceeds from the new funding would go towards international expansion and execute plans to expand in the enterprise market segment. Hightail would be adding more people to its staff of 230.
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