Microsoft to invest $10 million in Corio
By Melanie Austria Farmer
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
January 10, 2000, 9:55 a.m. PT
URL: news.cnet.com
Application service provider Corio today is expected to announce a $10 million investment from software giant Microsoft, CNET News.com has learned.
In an announcement, Corio will also detail plans to develop a joint research lab in Silicon Valley with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft. As part of today's deal, Corio, which hosts business applications for customers so they don't have to manage the software themselves, will gain access to Microsoft's sales channel. Corio's customers include Siebel Systems, Broadvision, Commerce One, PeopleSoft and Cognos.
Microsoft's investment in Redwood City, Calif.-based Corio comes at the heels of its recent $67.5 million investment in Internet services firm USWeb/CKS. Under the USWeb deal, Microsoft said it will invest in the company over the next year to fund the development and marketing of new application services and technologies for their joint customers.
Corio competes in the ASP market against rivals USinternetworking and FutureLink, along with a growing crop of others including traditional software developers such as Oracle and J.D. Edwards.
Corio and other ASPs argue that mid-sized companies can avoid management headaches and save 70 percent in up-front costs by renting all software applications rather than buying them. Customers access rented applications via a browser or leased line.
To date, companies that have already taken an equity stake in privately held Corio include PeopleSoft, Siebel, Concentric Networks, and Sun Microsystems. Last November, the privately held company closed a $30-million round of funding led by Lehman Brothers Venture Partners. |
