FreeDrive Aligns With Motorola, EDS and EMC
Virtual Storage Provider Completes Strategic Investment Round
CHICAGO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- FreeDrive Inc., a leading provider of Internet-based storage applications, today announced the completion of an equity-funding round from a group of investors including Motorola Inc., EDS and EMC Corporation. FreeDrive will use the funding to expand its core infrastructure operations and marketing organization to continue to expand its global business. Terms were not disclosed.
FreeDrive provides users access to their own private and secure content from their personal computer or wireless Internet devices. FreeDrive is sharable, mobile, and accessible through the Web at any time. ``Like e-mail, Internet-based storage will soon be a personal and business imperative. Virtual storage will expand the PC's reach like the PC did to the mainframe,'' said Jack Sandner, chairman and chief executive officer of FreeDrive.
Teaming with Motorola (NYSE: MOT - news), a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions, FreeDrive will seek to create information storage platforms that are mobile, shareable, secure, and accessible through devices Motorola has created for the home, individual, work team and automobile.
``FreeDrive exemplifies the high quality of young, high-tech businesses growing in the Chicago area. Secure storage will be critical to the growing Internet economy, and we believe that FreeDrive offers a unique solution for individuals and businesses alike,'' said Warren Holtsberg, corporate vice president and director, One Motorola Ventures. Holtsberg will join FreeDrive's board of directors. One Motorola Ventures is the strategic capital investment arm of Motorola, Inc.
By joining forces with global information services leader EDS (NYSE: EDS - news), FreeDrive is able to deliver data-center computing to businesses and consumers worldwide. FreeDrive and EDS will offer collaborative storage applications which allow consumers and businesses the ability to access, manipulate, and transmit data of all kinds using nearly any type of communication or computing device.
``EDS is excited to be involved with a dynamic company like FreeDrive, a leader in Internet storage,'' said George Abigail, vice president of Business Development and Ventures for EDS. ``The rise of information appliances and web-enabled mobile devices is fueling the demand for Internet storage and FreeDrive is at the forefront of this trend with EDS.''
EDS Ventures, EDS' venture capital group, invests in digital economy companies with leading edge technologies that are aligned with EDS' corporate strategy and operations.
FreeDrive, a member of the EMC (NYSE: EMC - news) Proven program, has used EMC's industry-leading hardware and software solutions for more than a year to build its information infrastructure. Using EMC technology, FreeDrive has created an environment that allows it to quickly adapt to customer needs and rapidly changing market conditions.
The EMC Proven program identifies Internet-based businesses that have invested in best practices for enterprise storage and information infrastructure, and enables them to better leverage that investment through their own marketing and communications programs. Acceptance into the program signifies a company has implemented an IT infrastructure able to support the operational needs of an Internet-based business or service.
Launched in 1998, FreeDrive quickly has established itself as a leader in the burgeoning information storage industry. GartnerGroup estimates that in 1999 alone, more than 23 million people used various storage, downloading, sharing, and file management capabilities. A recent report by InformationWeek magazine indicated that the commercial demand of storage is growing at up to 50 percent annually.
In less than 18 months, FreeDrive has amassed more than eight million registered users, growing at a rate of more than 30,000 a day. FreeDrive also has relationships with more than 10,000 organizations. ``Our relationships with Motorola, EDS and EMC will contribute to taking FreeDrive to the next stage in our evolution, ideally positioning FreeDrive to be a pillar in both the knowledge and information economies,'' Sandner said. |
