AvePoint Raises $200M to Expand Channel

AvePoint, a provider of data governance, protection and migration tools for cloud-based applications from Microsoft, this week revealed it has raised approximately $200 million in additional financing.

Most of that funding will be allocated to expanding the size of the company’s channel as AvePoint seeks to expand its base of small-to-medium business (SMB) customers, says Scott Sacket, vice president of channel strategy for AvePoint.

AvePoint sells its offerings both direct and via the channel. However, now that AvePoint is targeting customers beyond the enterprise there is a need to significantly expand the number of partners the company engages, said Sacket.

The company claims to have more than 7 million users spread across 16,000 large enterprises around the globe. AvePoint aims to add more than 40,000 customers through the channel in the next two years, which Sacket notes will require a lot more channel partners.

“It’s a big goal,” says Sacket.

Much of that success is attributed to a strategy that revolves around being in lock step with Microsoft, adds Sacket. For example, AvePoint provides a Cloud Governance tool to help organizations better govern and secure the Microsoft Teams service.

The biggest challenge AvePoint faces is simply making end customers aware they need, among other things, data protection tools, says Sacket. Too many customers still assume that cloud services such as Microsoft Office 365 provide an embedded data protection capability.

Those tools represent a significant opportunity for partners who resell Microsoft cloud services to increase their profitability, adds Sacket.

Channel partners can already purchase AvePoint solutions via distribution partners such as Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data, and Intcomex. Ingram Micro last year designated AvePoint as its exclusive migration and backup vendor for Microsoft Office 365 partners as part of its Modern Workplace Accelerate program.

With services such as Microsoft Office 365 have achieved critical mass, Microsoft channel partners have for several years been transitioning their business models to rely more on recurring revenues generated by cloud services. The challenge they face, however, is not all of those Microsoft services is equally profitable to resell.