Open source software provider Eucalyptus Systems is hiring engineers amid plans to double in size over the next year.
The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based startup now employs 30 people, nearly three-quarters of whom are technical workers, according to CEO Marten Mickos.
The company is looking for several types of engineers, including product engineers and quality assurance engineers, Mickos said.
Candidates should "understand distributed software systems inside and out," said Mickos, who was CEO of open source database software company MySQL for seven years until it was acquired by Sun Microsystems for $1 billion in 2008.
Eucalyptus, which grew out of a computing research project at the University of California, Santa Barbara, provides software that allows large enterprises to operate their own, private cloud computing environments. Its last funding round was a $20 million raised three months ago.
Mickos said the company is having some success luring talent away from Silicon Valley, three hours up the coast, although lately it has become a tad more competitive.
"The market for talent is heating up because you have more startups," he said. Salary and options packages are also seeing a "slight increase."
Eucalyptus is also taking advantage of the quality of the computer science and engineering programs at UC Santa Barbara, according to Mickos. "For the size of the area, you have a good pool of talent here," he said.
The company, which is not the only Santa Barbara-based startup hiring tech workers right now, is using executive search firms to fill specific senior-level positions and tech recruiting firms to find its other employees.
Write to John Shinal
Press Release:
Eucalyptus Systems Closes $20 Million Investment Round Led by NEA
Current Investors Benchmark Capital and BV Capital Also Participate in Funding to Fuel Growth of Private Cloud Computing Leader
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – July 1, 2010 – Eucalyptus Systems, creator of the leading open source private cloud software, announced today the completion of a $20 million round of funding led by new investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from current investors Benchmark Capital and BV Capital. This represents the company's second round of funding, bringing total capital raised to date to $25.5 million. Eucalyptus also announced that Peter Sonsini, partner at NEA, has joined the Eucalyptus board of directors. The company is using the funding to scale development, marketing and sales of its commercial open source private cloud software to meet increasing demand for more scalable, agile and cost-efficient information technology (IT) systems.
"The market for private and hybrid cloud computing is poised for massive expansion this year, and we are honored that NEA, one of the world's largest and most respected venture capital firms, along with current investors Benchmark Capital and BV Capital, will finance the next, high growth, phase for Eucalyptus," said Marten Mickos, Eucalyptus Systems CEO. "Cloud computing is catalyzing a shift in IT that is more significant than anything we've previously seen, paving the way for a huge worldwide increase in data, IT consumption and Internet usage. Eucalyptus now has the resources to quickly build on our early leadership position, meet overwhelming customer interest, and help drive this expanding industry."
NEA's Sonsini commented, "We've been studying this market for some time and early on identified infrastructure software for cloud computing as a major new opportunity. With a scalable, standards-compliant and mature solution – as well as unmatched adoption across the globe -- Eucalyptus has emerged as a clear leader in this space. I look forward to collaborating with the Eucalyptus team to build on their success as the market for private and hybrid clouds grows."
Company site: eucalyptus.com
