Vates raises €30M to scale open-source VMware rival
What's the deal? French virtualization company VatesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised €30 million from IRIS' Growth fund and Bpifrance's Large Venture fund. The money will fund technology development, international expansion, and a wider partner ecosystem. Vates serves more than 1,000 customers across around 100 countries.
Why now? Broadcom's acquisition of VMware has sped up a shift already underway across the virtualization market. Facing new licensing models, rising infrastructure costs, and complex architectures, organizations are rethinking their technology choices.
What's the endgame? Vates offers an open-source platform that lets organizations keep control of their infrastructure and avoid technological lock-in. The funding targets three priorities: next-generation platform development, expansion in North America and key European markets, and a stronger network of distributors and integrators.
By the numbers: Vates grew more than 65% in 2025. It generates 90% of its revenue outside France, with North America alone accounting for close to half its business. In 2026, it joined Gartner's Magic Quadrant for virtualization — one of few European vendors listed alongside the sector's major players.
Vates' co-founders will remain majority shareholders after the deal. "We are not raising funds to change our strategy, but to accelerate the one we have pursued from the beginning," said chief executive officer and co-founder Olivier Lambert. The investment preserves what he called the company's "independence" and "open-source principles."
The signal: As the virtualization market reshapes around sovereignty, cost control, and reversibility, European open-source challengers are finding room to grow against incumbents. Vates' raise shows investor appetite for alternatives to consolidated platforms.
Image credit: Vates
