AppSense bags $70m lolly from Goldman Sachs

User virtualisation specialist will use funds to accelerate expansion plans

User virtualisation vendor AppSense is to receive $70m in funding from global investment bank Goldman Sachs.

The Warrington-based firm specialises in products that make user-specific data available on demand when users log onto a desktop or mobile computing device.

The vendor said it plans to use the cash injection to accelerate its growth plans. The deal will also see AppSense add Goldman Sachs' managing director Pete Perrone to its board of directors.

Over the past year, the vendor claims to have sold 1.5 million licences for its desktop management products and seen its global revenues soar by 60 per cent.

It has also secured a number of high-profile public and private sector contracts with the likes of BT, United Airlines and the Department for Work and Pensions.

Perrone said the company's success to date was the driving force behind Goldman Sachs' decision to invest.

He said: "AppSense's strong customer traction, history of innovative solutions in desktop computing, and the record growth it has experienced over the past two years solidified our decision to invest in the company."

Darron Antill, chief executive of AppSense, added: "We are delighted by the level of support AppSense has received from Goldman Sachs and appreciate the magnitude of what this investment will allow us to do.

"Namely, to continue our expansion and maintain our role as market leader in the user virtualisation space."