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Panzura is making a profound impact on global enterprises, providing the cloud-first infrastructure that ensures business can continue as usual as legions of people work from home to protect their health and wellbeing. 

Today, I’m honored to announce that venture capital firm Profile Capital Management, a family-owned wealth fund renowned for strategic growth investments in the IT sector, has acquired the company.  

Up until now, Panzura has been backed by institutional investors, which means there’s always been a limit to how long investors would hold an ownership stake in Panzura.  So, a sale has always been on the cards. 

For YEARS, Profile Capital Management founder Ben Chereskin has been searching for the right cloud venture to invest in, and if there were ever a perfect time to invest in Panzura, it’s now. As policies to protect our health have peaked, and as we clamor to adjust to the new normal of working from home, companies can’t afford to slow down. Enterprise IT are under enormous pressure to adopt cloud-first solutions that ensure the business can continue as usual by enabling remote employees to work effectively, from anywhere. They need uninterrupted access to the same data and tools that they can access in the office, without the risk of data collisions or data losses. 

Panzura -- with its stellar technologies specifically engineered for cloud agility and the flexibility enterprises mandate -- is a remarkable company to invest in for rapid growth as businesses adjust to the new normal of remote working.

Now’s the time to invest in cloud storage, and Panzura -- with its stellar technologies specifically engineered for cloud agility and the flexibility enterprises mandate -- is the right company to invest in for rapid growth,” said Ben. “We are convinced that Panzura’s market trajectory will accelerate as businesses adjust to the new normal of remote working.”    

We agree.  

How will the acquisition impact Panzura? 

It is absolutely business as usual for Panzura and our partners.

Profile brings to the mix the financial resources and an extensive business network which we will leverage to accelerate market and international expansion.

Unlike with private equity or VC investments, Profile Capital Management has an unlimited investment horizon and no plans to sell, and because it is well capitalized, there’s no need to raise outside capital again to scale the business.

The acquisition comes at an opportune time given that enterprises, now more than ever, demand flexibility and security for their remote workforces.

As part of the acquisition, Rich Weber, formerly Chief Product Officer, will become President of Panzura, and Jason Luehrs has been promoted to CFO. We’re also making some changes to our sales and marketing teams to propel our growth. 

I’ve known and worked with Ben for years, and it’s an absolute honor to be selected to serve as Chairman and CEO of Panzura, a company recently recognized as a 'Leader and Outperformer' versus competitors in the GigaOm Radar for File-Based Cloud Storage.  And that is sitting in a position to capitalize on the fast-growing global enterprise data management market, which has been earmarked to grow from $77.9BN this year to $122.9BN by 2025.

I specialize in leading teams making a big impact on the world, whether it’s creating a new category of wireless technology to protect teachers in schools or driving international expansion for one of the world’s largest consulting companies. I’ve also been heavily involved in Panzura’s marketing and sales efforts for the past year in my prior role as co-CEO of mid-market catalyst firm EDGY. 

The entire team remains committed to delivering industry leading global files services and an outstanding level of support. 

We are, however, bidding farewell to Patrick Harr and Steve Morgan who left the company to pursue their next ventures. Patrick has been an incredible leader to this team and has steered Panzura to be the business it is today, which can be seen in the record earnings of over 50% revenue growth for Q2 ending April 2020. 

The sale changes nothing in our operations as Panzura. We are a privately-owned business and are being privately purchased. Ben is an exceptional leader with a nose for investments, and I can assure you that he is invested in Panzura for the long-term and will remain deeply committed to helping us continue to make this business a success.

We are looking forward to an incredible future, and I encourage you to contact our team with any questions you may have at this time.