The six million dollar fund

Open source business applications provider Compiere, Inc. has announced the securing of US $6 million in funding from venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. Compiere was originally funded in 1999, and the NEA grant represents the first round of outside funding. Compiere representatives stated that funding would be used to build a worldwide infrastructure in support of its partner network.

Two other facets of the investment include appointments to the Compiere board and relocation for the firm. NEA partners Vladimir Jacimovic and Harry Weller will now sit on the Compiere board of directors: Jacimovic commented that Compiere “not only has the right product, at the right time, for the replacement market, but it also has the right product offering for the growing small to medium business market place…” Compiere company headquarters will be relocated to Silicon Valley, California. Compiere’s flagship product is Compiere ERP & CRM, an open source enterprise resource planning application designed for industries including distribution, retail, logistics, manufacturing, and professional services. The solution integrates ERP and CRM solutions, has been available for download in 2001 and has reportedly been downloaded some one million times-plus since then.

Compiere solutions have been implemented by over seventy partners worldwide, and the Compiere Partner Network consists of consulting firms, systems integrators, application solution providers, and value-added resellers. New Enterprise Associates is a leading venture capital firm focused on assisting in the creation and / or expansion of major new enterprises that “use technology to improve the way we live, work and play.” NEA currently boasts US $6 billion under management, representing past investment in 500 companies, of which more than 200 have been acquired. NEA has offices in Reston, Va., Menlo Park, Calif., and Baltimore, Md.