Startup profile · funding coverage
SoftLayer funding, valuation and investors
Dallas-born IaaS / cloud infrastructure provider — acquired by IBM in 2013.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Not publicly disclosed
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
Not publicly disclosed
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
acquired
acquired · Dallas, TX
Overview
SoftLayer Technologies was a Dallas-based cloud infrastructure (IaaS) company founded in 2005. It operated a global footprint of data centers and automated bare-metal/virtual infrastructure for startups and enterprises. IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire SoftLayer on June 4, 2013, and closed the acquisition on July 8, 2013; SoftLayer was combined into IBM’s cloud services organization (later IBM Cloud). Deal value was widely reported around $2 billion though IBM did not disclose terms in its primary press releases.
Why SoftLayer is interesting
DFW cloud history: SoftLayer was the largest privately held IaaS provider when IBM acquired it (announced Jun 2013, closed Jul 2013), seeding IBM’s modern public-cloud footprint from a Dallas HQ.
Product & use cases
Automated cloud infrastructure spanning dedicated and virtual servers with API-driven provisioning across a global data-center footprint.
- Public cloud hosting for web and SaaS workloads
- Bare-metal and hybrid infrastructure for performance-sensitive apps
- Global multi-data-center deployment for internet-scale companies
Key facts
- Acquired by IBM — announced Jun 4, 2013; closed Jul 8, 2013 (IBM PR)
- HQ was Dallas, Texas at acquisition
- Positioned as largest privately held IaaS provider (~21K customers, 13 data centers cited in IBM PR)
- Brand later absorbed into IBM Cloud
Funding history (newest first)
Acquisition
2013-07 ~$2B (widely reported; IBM did not disclose)- IBM (lead)
Competitive landscape
Edge: At acquisition: internet-scale automation and bare-metal options versus early AWS/enterprise hosting peers — later superseded inside IBM Cloud.
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Amazon Web Services direct
Dominant public cloud competitor during SoftLayer’s independent era.
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Rackspace direct
Managed hosting / cloud peer.
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IBM SmartCloud (pre-deal) adjacent
IBM’s existing cloud unit SoftLayer was combined into after close.
Notable stories
- IBM’s SoftLayer acquisition is still the reference DFW cloud exit when founders ask whether North Texas can produce infrastructure-scale outcomes.
Industries
Market / IPO context
Editorial / static context — not a live quote.
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover SoftLayer's financing or category context.
FAQs about SoftLayer
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
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