Cloud Archiving Startup Sonian Raises $9 Million From Amazon, Webroot And Others

Sonian, a startup that specializes in cloud-powered information archiving solutions, this morning announced that it has secured $9 million in Series B funding. Previous backers Summerhill Venture Partners and Prism VentureWorks were joined by strategic investors Amazon.com and Webroot.

Sonian says it will use the funds for continued research and development for its information archiving platform, and business expansion.

Sonian’s cloud-powered information archiving platform is compatible with many email, instant messaging, and social media systems and essentially aims to enable organizations to address eDiscovery needs, achieve regulatory compliance and reduce IT costs.

Sonian says over 5,000 customers currently use its cloud-based archiving solutions.

So why did Amazon invest in the fledgling company?

Jeff Blackburn, SVP of Business Development for Amazon, explains:

“By leveraging Amazon Web Services, Sonian is avoiding capital expenditure and focusing resources on product innovations and improving their time to market with those innovations.”

Sonian was named an Amazon Web Services Start-up Challenge finalist back in 2008.

The company recently appointed former Metatomix chief executive Jeff Dickerson as its new president and CEO. Sonian has raised $14.6 million in venture capital to date.