Cask Announces $20 Million Series B Financing Led by Safeguard Scientifics

PALO ALTO, Calif. and RADNOR, Pa., Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cask Data, Inc., the open source software company that helps developers deliver enterprise-class Apache Hadoop™ solutions more quickly and effectively, announced that it's raising a $20 million Series B financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE: SFE) with participation from Battery Ventures, Ignition Partners and other existing investors. Proceeds will be used to expand Cask's platform enhancements and develop a broad sales team.

Cask accelerates the development and deployment of production Hadoop applications. Hadoop is the industry standard open source software framework for large-scale data applications. Cask's flagship offering, the Cask Data Application Platform ("CDAP"), provides an open source layer on top of the Hadoop ecosystem that adds enterprise-class governance, portability, security, scalability and transactional consistency. From Data Lakes to Data Apps, the CDAP platform is ideal for enterprise environments because it abstracts many layers of the Hadoop ecosystem, allowing developers to use their existing skills to build high-performance, large-scale Big Data applications. This dramatically accelerates development of applications and deployment into production, cutting average time to implement by more than 80%, while retaining the operational controls required by today's enterprise customers. Major customers and partners include AT&T, Cloudera, Salesforce, Pet360 and Lotame.

"Big data has moved into the mainstream, but enterprises continue to struggle with the complexities and new skill sets required in the Hadoop ecosystem," said Cask Founder and CEO, Jonathan Gray. "Because our platform can layer on top of any distribution, instantly integrate with new and existing data stores, and easily support both Spark or MapReduce, it delivers real value for enterprises in a data-heavy environment, slashing development and deployment timelines. We are excited to be a part of the Safeguard family of partner companies. This financing, along with the operational expertise and guidance from our new board members Phil and Frank, will allow us to take Cask to the next level."

"Ignition has been a long-time believer in the importance of application enablement for Hadoop, and we know that businesses of all sizes and developers remain challenged to deliver real value in reasonable amounts of time," said Frank Artale, managing partner at Ignition Partners. "We have invested in, and partnered closely with, Cask since they were just an idea in their seed round, and look forward to working with them to take advantage of what we see as an original way to address these challenges and simplify the application enablement process."

"We are really pleased to get this opportunity to work with the Cask team," said Philip D. Moyer, Managing Director, Technology at Safeguard. "Data volumes are multiplying at an astronomical rate, making Hadoop an exceptionally fast growing market. Jon, Nitin and the entire Cask team are very respected in the open source Hadoop community for their contributions and leadership in the build out of enterprise capabilities for Hadoop. Cask is transactional, scalable, portable, governable, open, and secure.  Cask's combination of deep technical capabilities, strong financial growth and enterprise class customer traction makes the company a leader in the market and an exciting addition to Safeguard's portfolio."

About Cask
Cask (www.cask.co) is an open source big data software company focused on developers. Cask's flagship offering, the Cask Data Application Platform, makes it possible to quickly and easily develop and deploy more powerful applications for Hadoop. Based in Palo Alto, CA, the company is backed by leading investors including Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE:SFE), Battery Ventures and Ignition Partners. Learn more at www.cask.co or follow us on Twitter @caskdata.

About Safeguard Scientifics
Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE) has a distinguished track record of fostering innovation and building market leaders. For six decades, Safeguard has been providing growth capital and operational support to entrepreneurs across an evolving spectrum of industries. Today, Safeguard is focused specifically on two sectors—healthcare and technology. Specifically, Safeguard targets early- and growth-stage companies in advertising technology, digital media, financial technology, enterprise software, Internet of Things, devices, diagnostics, digital health and healthcare IT. For more information, please visit www.safeguard.com or follow us on Twitter @safeguard.

Forward-looking Statements

Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements contained in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Our forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, our ability to make good decisions about the deployment of capital, the fact that our partner companies may vary from period to period, our substantial capital requirements and absence of liquidity from our partner company holdings, fluctuations in the market prices of our publicly traded partner company holdings, competition, our inability to obtain maximum value for our partner company holdings, our ability to attract and retain qualified employees, market valuations in sectors in which our partner companies operate, our inability to control our partner companies, our need to manage our assets to avoid registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and risks associated with our partner companies, including the fact that most of our partner companies have a limited history and a history of operating losses, face intense competition and may never be profitable, the effect of economic conditions in the business sectors in which Safeguard's partner companies operate, and other uncertainties described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these factors are beyond the Company's ability to predict or control. As a result of these and other factors, the Company's past financial performance should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or other information contained in this press release.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Vikram Bhan
408-718-6508
[email protected]

Heather Hunter
215.531.2225
[email protected]

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SOURCE Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.

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