[Updated June 17th with more details about financing]
Doyenz, a Bellevue, WA-based company whose cloud-based software allows IT consultants to set up and manage virtual IT infrastructures for their small-to-medium-sized business clients, has raised $1.5 million in new cash, according to a regulatory filing today. In connection with the financing, $2.8 million worth of debt is being converted into preferred stock worth $3.3 million, according to CEO and founder Ashutosh Tiwary.
Doyenz, founded in 2007, helps consultants set up “virtual appliances” such as remote servers, and provides a cloud-based testing lab where they can try out patches or configuration changes before deploying them to customers’ infrastructures, according to the company’s website. It also helps consultants create backup images of customers’ virtual infrastructures on their local networks, or in the cloud.
Tiwary has spent 25 years in the computer industry according to his biography on the Doyenz site. He worked previously for Microsoft, and was a co-founder of Performant, which was sold to Mercury in 2003 for $22.5 million. Doyenz (the name comes from doyen, an experienced expert) focuses on small businesses who might find it more efficient to back up their local machines or even outsource their entire IT infrastructures to the cloud. Members of the board include Xconomist Jeremy Jaech, a co-founder of Aldus and Visio who is now CEO of Seattle-based Verdiem.