Red Herring 100 2001. Zaplet. Develops a software platform that allows group collaboration on projects over Zaplets, a cross between emails, instant messages, and Web pages. Zaplet estimates its target market at more than $50 billion.
Ownership PrivateLocation Redwood Shores, CAFounded 1999CEO Alan BaratzEmployees 108Sector SoftwareWeb site www.zaplet.com
THE HERRING TAKEZaplet promises to transform canned enterprise software with easily customized applications.
MARKET Develops a software platform that allows group collaboration on projects over Zaplets, a cross between emails, instant messages, and Web pages. The Zaplet remains in the group members' email inboxes, and project updates appear each time the email is reopened. Zaplet estimates its target market at more than $50 billion.
STRATEGY Company aims to restructure the 65 percent of workplace tasks that are not automated from its platform. Must show how its product improves on popular collaboration software products like Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange.
MANAGEMENT CEO can sell anything, and that includes Java. His stints as a venture partner at the private equity firm E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Company and as head of the software products and platforms division of Sun Microsystems will help Zaplet secure large corporate accounts.
FINANCIALS Not profitable. Raised $100 million in two rounds from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Integral Capital Partners, QuestMark Partners, Amerindo Investment Advisors, Azure Capital Partners, Robertson Stephens, CSFB, the Texas Pacific Group, Sands Brothers, Oracle, Cisco Systems, Accenture, Research In Motion, Novell, Bill Joy, Esther Dyson, Andy Bechtolsheim, Bill Sahlman, and Arthur Kern. Post-money valuation at third round: over $1 billion.
RELATED STORIESZaplet enterprisesDroplets and Zaplets