14 DAY TRIAL // Dropbox has announced that it has just landed a massive $250 million, 180€ million in funding from a number of venture capital firms. The money will be used to accelerate the company's next growth stage. The company also announced that it now has 45 million users.
"The company will use the funds to accelerate its rapid growth, make acquisitions, pursue strategic partnerships, and grow the team," Dropbox said in a statement.
"Dropbox has more than 45 million users saving one billion files every three days, and is on track to triple its user base in 2011," it said.
The really impressive thing is that the company only raised $7.2 million, 5.2€ million to date.
Dropbox hasn't revealed its valuation, but it seems that the company was valuated at $4 billion, 2.89€ billion in this latest round, a huge sum that could have been even bigger, but Dropbox wanted to enlist only the top venture capital firms.
"The financing was led by Index Ventures and includes participation from new investors Benchmark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, RIT Capital Partners, and Valiant Capital Partners," Dropbox revealed.
"Early investors Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Hadi and Ali Partovi also participated. Dropbox has received a total of $257.2 million in funding," it added.
Just as Dropbox announced its latest funding round, it also got a story in Forbes, featuring the startups early days and centering on its cofounder and CEO.
One of the most interesting stories is about a meeting with the late Steve Jobs, who invited the two cofounders to Apple back in 2009 to make a 'nine figure' acquisition offer.
The offer was rejected, since Dropbox's founders wanted to build a large company rather than sell out early, even as Jobs warned them that Apple was going to compete in the space and 'crush' them.