WANdisco aims to raise £16.5m as the demand in Big Data market takes off

Software​ ​firm WANdisco is to raise £1​6.5​m from shareholders and will use the cash to invest in product development and expand its global sales operations as demand for its services steps up.

The Sheffield-based firm said it has seen a big acceleration in the Big Data market and it recently won a sizeable contract with British Gas, which is seen as a major endorsement of its technology.

Chief executive David Richards said: “The sales success we have recently seen, particularly in the most recent quarter, has emboldened our view of the Big Data opportunity open to us and of our ability to win in that marketplace.”

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He said that the group’s pipeline of opportunities is growing, helped by increasing customer understanding of its products, the problems those products can solve and the ever increasing importance of data availability to enterprises of all shapes and size.

“The funds sought today will help us to push ahead with our growth plans,” he added.

Earlier this week ​WANdisco said ​2014 bookings ​shot up 18​ per cent​ to £11.5m as ​demand rose for its​ Big Data products​.​

The group said it has seen record Big Data bookings and said it can see significant growth in the sales pipeline.

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British Gas has significantly scaled up the use of the tech firm’s services following a trial last March.

The resulting subscription to its Non-Stop Hadoop service is WANdisco’s largest Big Data contract to date, worth around $750,000 (£496,000) over three years.

The term Big Data refers to data that is so large and complex it can’t be processed using traditional desktop computers.

It is used by internet giants such as Yahoo, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon and eBay to keep their operations going.

Big Data can analyse economic trends, combat crime, predict the weather and foresee heart attacks, sepsis and other life-threatening ailments.