Software Firm Harness Valued at $1.7 Billion in Funding Round

(Bloomberg) -- The entrepreneur who sold AppDynamics Inc. to Cisco Systems Inc. for $3.7 billion in 2017 has built another billion-dollar business.

Jyoti Bansal had planned on retiring after that sale. Just months later, though, he had the itch to build something new, he recalled in an interview. Now, Harness Inc., the software development platform that he co-founded in 2017, was valued at $1.7 billion with $115 million in new funding.

The investment includes an $85 million round led by Alkeon Capital, with new investors including Battery Ventures, Citi Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners. The startup plans to announce an additional $30 million raised from Menlo Ventures, IVP and Unusual Ventures in a previously undisclosed funding round.

“Building a unicorn to me is a big satisfaction,” said Bansal, the company’s chief executive officer. “It’s a passion for solving a problem.”

The business, which competes somewhat with Gitlab Inc., is in a developer tools category called continuous delivery. The startup also has offerings that help engineers be more efficient. Its customers include Cisco, Charles Schwab Corp. and Ancestry.com Inc.

A Harness investor who had held a stake in AppDynamics said he invested with Bansal again because he’s an entrepreneur who understands how to build a company.

“He’s a very unique combination of technologist and business person,” said Neeraj Agrawal, general partner at Battery Ventures.

Agrawal said he invests in companies that have a strong market and team. “This is one of those rare situations where you have an A+ on both sides,” he said.