VMWare acquires opensource startup Heptio to accelerate enterprise adoption of Kubernetes

As we reported this morning, VMWare has acquired open source startup Heptio in a bid to accelerate the adoption of Kubernetes services in the enterprise. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. VMWare announced Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Heptio, a leader in the open Kubernetes ecosystem. The transaction is expected to close in VMware’s fiscal Q4 2019, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Heptio’s products and expertise help organizations deploy and operationalize Kubernetes. Terms were not disclosed.

Founded in 2016 by Joe Beda and Craig McLuckie, two of the creators of Kubernetes, the Seattle-based Heptio is a contributor to the Kubernetes project, an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications, and the technology’s deployment by organizations. Heptio has gone through two funding rounds a raised a total of $33.3 million. Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

In a blog post on Heptio website, Craig McLuckie, co-founders and CEO said: “Today we are incredibly excited to announce that Heptio will be acquired by VMware. It is a watershed day for our company, and we hope for the industry as a whole. The inevitable question is … why have we decided to join forces (now)?” Heptio has applied its unique insight to a growing set of products, open source projects and contributions to upstream Kubernetes. This is complemented by Heptio’s work with organizations through training, support and professional services that speed integration of Kubernetes and related technologies into the fabric of enterprise IT. As a result, Heptio will be able to open new channels for VMware to further engage the open source community and harden upstream Kubernetes as well as support the cloud native needs of the largest enterprises in the world upon closing.

VMware and Pivotal have delivered PKS, the industry’s most comprehensive Kubernetes portfolio covering customer use cases for on-premises deployment and as a cloud service. The offerings enable organizations to operate Kubernetes and run their modern applications in a cloud-agnostic fashion. Upon completion of the acquisition, Heptio’s Kubernetes solution, expertise and community leadership will enhance the VMware portfolio and further accelerate enterprise adoption of Kubernetes.

“Kubernetes is emerging as an open framework for multi-cloud infrastructure that enables enterprise organizations to run modern applications,” said Paul Fazzone, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Native Apps Business Unit, VMware. “Heptio products and services will reinforce and extend VMware’s efforts with PKS to establish Kubernetes as the de facto standard for infrastructure across clouds upon closing. We are thrilled that the Heptio team led by Craig and Joe will be joining VMware to help us guide customers as they move to a multi-cloud world.”

“The team at Heptio has been focused on Kubernetes, creating products that make it easier to manage multiple clusters across multiple clouds,” said Craig McLuckie, CEO and co-founder of Heptio. “And now we will be tapping into VMware’s cloud native resources and proven ability to execute, amplifying our impact. VMware’s interest in Heptio is a recognition that there is so much innovation happening in open source. We are jointly committed to contribute even more to the community—resources, ideas and support.”

“Heptio has an incredibly talented team and exciting portfolio of products that will expand and accelerate Pivotal and VMware’s customers’ journey with cloud native software upon closing. VMware and Pivotal have worked together to co-develop PKS which enables enterprises to more effectively build and run modern applications. We are thrilled for Heptio to join VMware and look forward to working with them to drive greater innovation together,” said Ian Andrews, senior vice president, products and marketing, Pivotal.

Craig McLuckie and Joe Beda, co-founders of Heptio