Neverware isn’t a new thing. Not even a little bit, actually. They’ve been doing their thing for over 7 years now, but it looks like they may begin really targeting the enterprise market with the latest round of funding.
For those who have never heard of Neverware, their software platform is a version of Chromium OS (the very OS Chrome OS is built from) that can be installed on hundreds of aging PCs and Macs. They’ve been very successful for Schools and home users alike, breathing new life into old hardware. We put an older video of ours in the bottom of this post to show how easy this process actually is. It works well, is easy to do, and can make an old laptop feel new again.
Additionally, the same management tools available to Chromebook users are available to Neverware computers. This means that small to medium-sized companies could leverage their old hardware with a simple OS that is a breeze to manage and set up. It is much cheaper than buying a fleet of new computers.
More Funding, More Market Penetration
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Google is leading the way on this investment front. Full numbers aren’t being disclosed yet, but Google is clearly the prime investor and it is completely logical to assume this round will be more than the last; totaling $6.5 million.
From the Neverware website:
So while it may have felt daring to imagine CloudReady’s success back then, we really couldn’t have conceived of this: the announcement that Google will be leading our Series B investment round as our newest investor.
Google’s validation of us and of CloudReady is gratifying, but it’s also indicative of the market shift we’ve seen over the last few years. As organizations increasingly move to the cloud, the need for a new computing environment—one designed for the cloud, with security, manageability, and ease of use baked in rather than added after the fact—has only grown more obvious and more urgent.
With its Chrome Enterprise offering, Google has already turned its considerable focus in this direction. And now, of course, we’re pleased to join them.
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Same Success?
It is easy to look and say that Neverware – for home and Education – has been very successful. They are now leveraged in schools in all 50 US states and that’s a major achievement.
The Enterprise sector is not an easy one to crack, however. Companies love their legacy software and the pain of uprooting things is real. That’s to say nothing of the deep ties many have to Microsoft in one way or another. Schools tend to always be on the lookout for a way to carve out savings. Businesses may not be quite as eager to do the same.
Only time will tell, but for Google to be investing this way is probably a strong sign that Neverware is on to something here. Perhaps in a few years we’ll look back and see how important this move was for both companies.
Source: Neverware
