Pax8 secures $185m in funding round led by SoftBank

The cloud marketplace says the funding increases the company’s valuation to $1.7bn

Pax8 has snapped up $185m in new equity capital in a funding round led by new investor SoftBank.

The cloud marketplace says the funding increases the company's valuation to $1.7bn and provides capital "to accelerate innovation and continued expansion into new markets".

SoftBank Vision Fund led the funding series with additional contributions from existing investors Catalyst Investors, Sageview Capital, Blue Cloud Ventures, and Liberty Global Ventures.

As part of the transaction, Kristin Bannon, investment director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, will be named to the Pax8 Board of Directors.

Bannon said: "Through its marketplace, Pax8 is empowering SMBs with technology solutions they would otherwise not have access to while simultaneously granting software vendors distribution capabilities to a hard-to-reach customer segment.

"I am thrilled to join the Pax8 Board and partner with the company on its hyper-growth technology strategy for the platform and cloud marketplace, and new opportunities for the company and its ecosystem of partners."

Pax8 says it has cloud-enabled more than 200,000 businesses with its 20,000 managed services partners and "its award-winning platform, marketplace, education, support, and solutions".

The latest funding round comes after Pax8 raised $96m in January 2021, co-led by private equity firms Catalyst Investors and Sageview Capital.

The distributor told CRN last year that it is adding 120 staff per month globally and aims to have betwen 350-400 staff in the UK by 2023.

The firm expanded into mainland Europe in mid-2021 through its acquisition of Dutch-based distributor Resello.

John Street, CEO at Pax8, said: "As we continue to evolve our technology and marketplace to meet the needs of SMBs, the new investment will provide capital to accelerate innovation and continued expansion into new global markets.

"This strong funding round reflects the powerful work Pax8 is doing to enable and grow SMBs through our partners, employees, technology, education, and support. Year over year, we continue to experience record-breaking growth, and we look forward to working with SoftBank to continue elevating our performance."