ScaleVP was early to identify that certain types of software would move towards a service delivery model in which customers rented software on an as-needed basis instead of purchasing licenses with large up-front payments. ScaleVP also identified that this shift favors start-up companies over large, incumbent software providers.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provides a quicker to deploy, lower risk alternative to traditional licensed software and empowers a business unit by enabling direct ownership of the buying cycle, eliminating dependence on corporate IT.

Before it was evident to others, ScaleVP identified the areas best suited for a SaaS solution to drive operating success and has been investing in SaaS for almost a decade. The firm participates in every aspect of the SaaS world—investing, market development and market education. Not only do our portfolio companies succeed, our partners are in demand to speak as thought leaders on SaaS worldwide.

SaaS offers spectacular growth because companies are changing how and where they buy software. FrontBridge, Omniture, PlaceWare and ScanSafe are just a few of the leading SaaS companies backed by ScaleVP that stand out among their peers. ScaleVP SaaS companies have already created over $3B of market value, with a crop of exciting new companies following these proven winners.

Frontbridge
Understanding SaaS business models and the ability to analyze new opportunities for growth made ScaleVP instrumental to FrontBridge. As a formidable competitor in the email security space, FrontBridge needed financing to broaden its distribution and evolve its business into new areas. In 2003, ScaleVP invested in FrontBridge which allowed the company to grow and ultimately acquire another company in a similar market space. This acquisition provided the strategic value and differentiation to attract an acquirer, and in August 2005 Microsoft acquired FrontBridge and expanded FrontBridge's market coverage.

Omniture
As one of the best performing IPOs in 2006, Omniture is a Utah-based company that provides online web analytics. ScaleVP tracked the company for several years before leading a round of investment in 2005, and was a member of the audit, compensation and IPO pricing committees. ScaleVP's insight drove strategic discussions to ensure the company gained market share as opposed to near-term profitability. The company went public in June 2006 and the stock has grown substantially since the IPO. Omniture's successful IPO took place in a difficult market, and accelerated as the company gained market share. With ScaleVP's guidance the Company later completed three acquisitions to extend market share and today continues to expand its vision and opportunity.

Placeware
Although web conferencing was a nascent market in 1999, Scale Venture Partners believed it was poised for rapid expansion, an insight gained by analyzing the small and medium sized business markets (SMBs) over a period of years. ScaleVP encouraged PlaceWare to widen its distribution to cover both SMBs and larger enterprises. By offering its solution as a service from a central data center PlaceWare had a major advantage. By 2003, ScaleVP negotiated PlaceWare's acquisition by Microsoft to give Microsoft a leadership position in the promising web conferencing market.

ScanSafe
As the world's leading provider of web security as a service, ScanSafe is in a powerful growth position. ScanSafe allows companies to outsource security solutions rather than to build internal resources. ScaleVP's investment in 2006 allowed ScanSafe to invest more heavily in sales and marketing with the help of the ScaleVP team. ScanSafe continues to expand its leadership to capture the opportunities in outsourced web security.