IBM, the New York-based technology giant, is acquiring another Chicago startup as it expands its cloud management offerings.
IBM announced this week that it intends to purchase Instana, an application performance monitoring (APM) startup that develops application performance management software, for an undisclosed price. The deal is expected to close in the coming months.
IBM says the acquisition will help it advance its artificial intelligence capabilities and give customers the ability to manage complex hybrid and multi-cloud platforms.
"IBM's acquisition of Instana is yet another important step that we are taking to provide companies with the most complete portfolio of AI-automated solutions to tackle this enormous challenge and help prevent unforeseen IT incidents that can cost a business in lost revenue and reputation,” said Rob Thomas, IBM’s senior vice president of cloud and data platform, in a statement.
Instana has a development center in Germany. The startup has more than 160 employees, according to LinkedIn. Since launching in 2015, Instana has raised $57 million, according to Crunchbase. The company last raised a $30 million round in 2018. Its investors include Accel, Target Partners and Meritech Capital Partners.
Instana is the second Chicago startup IBM has announced it is acquiring this week. IBM said Monday that it intends to acquire TruQua Enterprises for an undisclosed price. Founded in 2010, TruQua provides SAP solutions to Fortune 500 companies.
These two acquisitions are just the latest high-tech cloud Chicago startups that IBM has bought. In 2015 IBM bought Cleversafe, a data storage startup led by serial entrepreneur Chris Gladwin. IBM paid $1.3 billion for Cleversafe in what was one of the largest-ever Chicago tech acquisitions. The deal minted 80 millionaires based on the equity structure Cleversafe gave its employees.
Instana is the fourth acquisition IBM has made this year.
