BlueStacks Closes $6.4 Million Strategic Investment Round With AMD and CITRIX
Friday October 21, 2011 , 3 min Read
BlueStacks today announced it has closed a strategic investment round with participation from AMD, Citrix Systems and other investors. In addition to the strategic investors, current investors also participated in the round, bringing the total investment in BlueStacks to $14M. BlueStacks will use the new financing to accelerate product development and support its fast-growing community of users. The company recently introduced the public alpha of "App Player for Windows" which has already been downloaded by consumers in more than 100 countries.“By enabling the user experience across different operating systems and device architectures, BlueStacks has become an integral part of the strategy of large players in the device and operating system ecosystem,” says Frank Artale, managing director, Ignition Partners. “Having the support of a major industry leader in virtualization and cloud like Citrix, as well as major semiconductor leaders like AMD and others, is a true testament to how much progress the company has made in a short time.”
BlueStacks is the first company to enable Android apps to run full-screen on even the largest Windows desktops and all-in-one PCs. The fact that there is no loss of resolution upon resizing the apps is the secret sauce behind BlueStacks’ software. In addition to launching the public alpha of BlueStacks App Player for Windows, the company is working on new releases and products. The beta release of App Player for Windows is scheduled for this winter. Additionally, the Pro version of the product, which will include access to premium apps such as Fruit Ninja and Cut the Rope, is expected to release by the end of the year.
“BlueStacks has developed a technology that many might describe as truly game-changing,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program (NYSE: AMD). “Best of all, it works seamlessly with AMD APU-powered tablets and PCs, meaning that Android apps can leverage the full horsepower and superior discrete graphics capabilities of the APU on a wide range of x86-based systems running Windows and the full suite of Microsoft Office applications for a brilliant computing experience.”
“BlueStacks' technology could help define the next generation of IT architectures for the enterprise,” said Andy Cohen, vice president, Strategic Development and Investments, Citrix. “With the ability to use mobile apps ubiquitously, it fits well with the Citrix vision of enabling people to work and play from anywhere on any device. BlueStacks is a company to watch for continued innovation."
“We are humbled and excited by the phenomenal response to our alpha launch. The sheer volume of installations, use of Cloud Connect, and the engagement of the user community far exceeded our expectations,” said Rosen Sharma, president and CEO, BlueStacks. “Since introducing the alpha last week, we already have users using the product and giving us excellent feedback. We are also excited about having AMD, Citrix and others as investors, as their guidance and influence on the eco-system will help further transform the computing landscape."