Cloudways以自举方式将托管云托管业务做到5200万美元营收，并以3.5亿美元退出

做的是什么生意

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform that lets small businesses and agencies deploy WordPress, PHP, Magento and other apps on top of AWS, Google Cloud, Azure or DigitalOcean — handling servers, staging, backups, security and support.

启动资金：No VC rounds: Cloudways was founded in 2012 within Pakistan's Gaditek group (part of the Disrupt.com ecosystem) with backing from a Barcelona angel, and grew by reinvesting cash flow (Who's Who Malta).

起因

Co-founder and CEO Aaqib Gadit and the Gaditek/Disrupt.com group launched Cloudways in 2012 to serve small businesses that wanted cloud hosting without the operational burden. Instead of picking one cloud, Cloudways abstracted several providers behind a single managed dashboard.

经过

Cloudways grew organically for a decade serving SMBs and digital agencies: by 2022 it had ~280 employees from over 20 countries, expected more than $52M in FY2022 revenue (three-year CAGR above 50%), and powered roughly half its customers on DigitalOcean infrastructure, which it had partnered with since 2014. On 2022-08-23 DigitalOcean announced the acquisition; the all-cash $350M deal closed on 2022-09-01, with a significant portion paid over 30 months.

结果

Acquired: DigitalOcean completed the $350M cash acquisition on 2022-09-01 (SEC 8-K); Cloudways continued as a standalone business unit with co-founder Aaqib Gadit at the helm (Who's Who Malta).

可借鉴之处

一个不起眼的基础设施业务可以悄悄发展十年，在没有风险投资的情况下以6.7倍营收出售：解决中小企业真实存在的运营痛点，将成本控制在产品内，让买家主动找上门。