Jamcracker scores $28.4 million funding

Jamcracker, which provides software over the Web as a service, will announce next week a $28.4 million infusion from investors, updated software and a new push intended to set it apart from competitors. The privately held company on Tuesday will announce new venture capital funding from existing investors and new entrants Telus Ventures and former Microsoft executive Paul Maritz, who currently serves on Jamcracker's board. The funding is expected to take the company to breakeven by late 2002, executives said, a key point in a technology market rife with financial woes and failing start-ups. Jamcracker is a Web-based aggregator of software applications used by businesses. It is headed by Exodus Communications founder K.B. Chandrasekhar. The Cupertino, Calif., company will also revamp its ASP (application service provider) business plan. Company executives said Jamcracker plans to begin selling its Jamcracker Platform software directly to businesses later this year, a radical shift from the company's software-as-a-service-only strategy. Businesses will be able to use Jamcracker's software in-house to launch business applications, in effect serving as their own ASPs. Pricing for the software has not been announced. --Ben Heskett, Special to ZDNet News