AppDynamics founder to invest in startups after $3.7B acquisition by Cisco

News such as the acquisition of AppDynamics by global behemoth Cisco this week for $3.7 billion comes as a ray of hope in the otherwise overcast skies of the Indian startup ecosystem. It will indeed spread a rainbow cheer as Jyoti Bansal, Founder of AppDynamics, has indicated that a part of the $525 million he has made through the deal will go towards funding startups in Silicon Valley and in India.

In a Linkedin post, Jyoti wrote, “What a journey! Nine years ago today, in January of 2008, I was a young software engineer with a dream and determination to start my company. I spent my days making the rounds on Sandhill Road in Silicon Valley, trying to generate interest from venture capitalists. On nights and weekends, I sat on my couch in San Francisco and wrote code.”

Founded in 2008 by Jyoti Bansal, an IIT Delhi Alumnus, AppDynamics Inc. is an American privately-held APM Company based in San Francisco. Bansal is the lead inventor on 14 US patent applications in the field of distributed applications management. The company had a workforce of more than 400 people and was on the verge of an IPO before the Cisco acquisition.

With a focus on managing the performance and availability of applications across cloud computing environments as well as inside the data center, AppDynamics specialises in complex, distributed environments.

Thirty-eight-year-old Jyoti wrote that in his nine-year journey, he learned a lot. “However, one of the most important things I learned is that you have to have a big dream, a big goal, and a big vision; but, you have got to implement it ‘one milestone at a time.’ There will be stumbles — but you get up and keep going until you reach that next milestone.”

The acquisition happened just a day before its IPO. Reportedly Silicon Valley-based Jyoti will now be mentoring startups and concentrating on his new venture.