Cloud9 Technologies, a cloud-based communication provider for financial firms and institutional traders, has closed a USD30 million funding round led by JPMorgan Chase, with ICAP, Barclays and Point72 Ventures.
The round also includes individual participation by the principals of several trading firms, such as Hudson Ridge Asset Management, who were among Cloud9's early customers.
"We are thrilled to welcome Point72 Ventures and our other investors as we continue to build a technology that acts as a catalyst in terms of changing the communication and process around trading," says Gerald Starr, CEO of Cloud9 Technologies. "Cloud9 has ushered trader communication into the modern age, while bringing mobility, enhanced compliance and security, and more agile communication to the industry. With the close of this round, our team is poised to continue development of products and services that will change the way the financial industry and enterprise businesses communicate and collaborate."
To date, more than 2,700 users in 29 countries have adopted Cloud9.
"Cloud9's technology inspired us to revisit our trader voice communication strategy and related workflow," says Rick Smith, head of private investments at JPMorgan Chase. "We believe that Cloud9 will empower traders through its ease of use and management, while improving efficiency, enhancing compliance and reducing communications costs."
Cloud9 will use the funding to support innovation, accelerate the development of several products and expand the service offering into new markets.
Most recently, Cloud9 opened an office in Singapore to meet growing demand in the Asia Pacific region, and the company has plans to expand operations in other markets by early next year.
"The rapid growth of Cloud9 since the company's launch in 2014 has paralleled the industry's adoption of cloud technology and we've seen the opportunity to extend the platform's benefits into areas such as workflow, compliance and advanced analytics," says Richard Kerschner, chief corporate development officer of ICAP's post trade, risk and information services division. "Cloud9 is best positioned to provide next generation solutions that will create improved efficiency and additional benefits for traders, brokers, and other financial market players."
ICAP's participation was led by Euclid Opportunities, ICAP's investment arm focused on emerging fintech companies.
"We believe Cloud9 is an emerging leader in transforming the way the buy-side and sell-side communicate across the capital markets," says Pete Casella, partner at Point72 Ventures. "We are excited to partner with Jerry and his team to help attract more of our peers and trading counterparts into the Cloud9 ecosystem."
"We have been using Cloud9 since the beginning," says Michael Intrator, president and CEO of Hudson Ridge Asset Management. "We chose to personally invest in Cloud9 because the technology has been reliable, and transformative for us. We believe that the company has a future that extends beyond creating an integrated lifecycle around trading communications and beyond the finance industry."
In July, Cloud9 announced the launch of its Gateway Service, which connects Cloud9 users to their counterparties even if they are not yet using the Cloud9 application.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz served as legal adviser to Cloud9 in connection with the funding round, which commenced earlier in 2016.
