Cisco acquires hypercovergence software company Springpath

Cisco is acquiring software company Springpath for $320 million in a cash and equity deal, plus additional retention-based incentives.

Founded out of Sunnyvale, California in 2012, Springpath is known for the development of a distributed file system for hyperconvergence that enables server-based storage systems.

“This acquisition is a meaningful addition to our data center portfolio and aligns with our overall transition to providing more software-centric solutions,” said Rob Salvagno, Cisco vice president, Corporate Business Development. “Springpath’s file system technology was built specifically for hyperconvergence, which we believe will deliver sustainable differentiation in this fast-growing segment. I’m excited to be able to provide our customers and partners with the simplicity and agility they need in data center innovation.”

Cisco actually led Springpath’s $34 million series C funding round in 2015, and the duo worked closely together to co-engineer Cisco’s HyperFlex, a hyperconverged system that combines software-defined storage software (from Springpath) with networking and compute.

Cisco plans to use Springpath to bolster its data center portfolio and grow its computing business. In terms of corporate structure, the Springpath team will join Cisco’s Computing Systems Product Group led by Liz Centoni. The acquisition is expected to close in Cisco’s first quarter of fiscal 2018.

Springpath is the latest in the series of acquisitions that Cisco has done so far in 2017. In May, Cisco bought MindMeld, a San Francisco-based startup that built a conversational AI platform for enterprises, for $125 million. A little before that, the company announced that it was paying $610 million to buy SD-WAN startup Viptela, and then three days later Cisco acquired key talent and technology from data analytics company Saggezza.