Box nets $500m investment, Aaron Levie to step down as Chairman

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(Image credit: Box)

The cloud storage provider Box has announced that it has reached an agreement with KKR in which the investment firm will lead a $500m investment into the company.

KKR's investment will help advance Box's strategy to deliver its Content Cloud and enable its customers to drive digital transformation throughout their organizations. 

Co-founder and CEO of Box, Aaron Levie, who will be stepping down from his role as chairman but will remain on the company's board of directors as part of the deal, provided further insight on the investment in a press release, saying:

“The investment from KKR is a strong vote of confidence in our vision, strategy, and continued efforts to increase growth and profitability. KKR is one of the world’s leading technology investors with a deep understanding of our market and a proven track record of partnering successfully with companies to create value and drive growth. With their support, we will be even better positioned to build on Box’s leadership in cloud content management as we continue to deliver value for our customers around the world.” 

Driving Box's next phase of growth

Box has reaffirmed its vision to deliver its Content Cloud and through KKR's support, the company plans to continue advancing its land-and-expand strategy to generate growth from both new and existing customers. At the same time though, it plans to grow its product portfolio as well as expand its presence in key international markets.

One of the ways in which Box has accelerated its strategy is by expanding into new markets adjacent to its cloud storage business including e-signatures with Box Sign. The company also plans to double down on product areas such as Box Shield and Box Governance for advanced security and compliance as well as Box Relay for workflow automation.

Box will continue to cultivate strong partnerships with other large tech firms and system integrators including IBM, Google, Salesforce, Slack, Zoom, Cisco, Okta and Microsoft to ensure that it can deliver its Content Cloud to customers at scale.

The shift to working from home during the pandemic led many organizations to move more of their workloads to the cloud and with KKR's investment, Box will be able to capitalize on this and continue to grow its business.

Anthony Spadafora

After working with the TechRadar Pro team for the last several years, Anthony is now the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. When not writing, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.