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UPDATED 21:43 EDT / AUGUST 28 2017

CLOUD

Western Digital snaps up cloud storage startup Upthere

Data storage giant Western Digital Corp. said Monday it has completed the acquisition of cloud services company called Upthere Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

Upthere is an interesting startup founded in 2012 that offers consumers a single, cloud-based storage space to keep their photos, videos, music and other files. The company said it began offering its services in response to growing concerns about local data storage on mobile devices. Its solution was to simply store user’s data in the cloud, bypassing local storage. The company built its technology from the ground up, including the infrastructure that extracts metadata from user’s files so they can be searchable.

Upthere is also notable for its well-known founders, including former Apple Inc. Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, who was responsible for building the company’s OS X operating system. Alex Kushnir is best-known for his work at the database firm MongoDB Inc. and for founding the file management service Kazeon, which was later bought out by EMC Corp. The third founder is Roger Bodamer, who previously worked at Oracle Corp. and Apple.

Western Digital didn’t say much about what its plans are for Upthere, but the acquisition is intended it to help it provide more innovative ways for its enterprise customers to create, store and manage data. Western Digital has been interested in Upthere’s capabilities for some time, as the storage giant took part in its most recent $77 million funding round last year.

“Upthere is delivering on its mission to transform the personal storage market and we share their focus on providing consumers more rich and meaningful experiences with their data,” Jim Welsh, Western Digital’s Ssenior vice president and general manager of client solutions, said in a statement.

The acquisition will also see Upthere Chief Executive Chris Bourdon (pictured) join Western Digital as a “strategic leader”. Bourdon will be put to work in Western Digital’s Client Solutions business, the company said.

For its part, Upthere praised Western Digital as a “wonderful supporter” of its mission to provide the world’s best personal storage experience and said it will continue to offer its services under the Upthere brand.

Photo: Upthere

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