Apple Snaps Up Startup With Device Management Platform

It would probably be a stretch to say that no one could have predicted this deal.

Fleetsmith, a startup that has built a platform enabling corporate IT crews to manage Apple devices, has been acquired by the tech giant, the company’s founders confirmed in a blog post.

“Today we have some exciting news to share: Fleetsmith is now part of Apple,” Fleetsmith CEO and Co-founder Zack Blum and Jesse Endahl, CSO and co-founder, announced in a blog post on the company’s website.

“We’re thrilled to join Apple,” the company’s co-founders wrote. “Our shared values of putting the customer at the center of everything we do without sacrificing privacy and security means we can truly meet our mission, delivering Fleetsmith to businesses and institutions of all sizes, around the world.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Apple, which recently became the first U.S. company to have a market cap of $1.5 trillion, confirmed the deal in the trade press, but has not released an official announcement.

Launched in 2016, Fleetsmith created a platform that IT departments can use to remotely set up and manage Apple devices. Among its offerings is a dashboard for use by corporate IT crews, which keeps track of all devices and alerts tech teams to potential problems.

Fleetsmith has raised over $40 million over the course of its four-year lifespan, including a $30 million chunk last year. The roster of investors who pumped money into the San Francisco-based startup includes Upfront Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Harrison Metal and Menlo Ventures.

In their blog post, Fleetsmith’s co-founders issued an acknowledgment “to our community of customers and everyone who has been part of our journey so far.”

“We started Fleetsmith to balance the management and security needs of IT with the experience users love about Mac, iPad and iPhone,” Fleetsmith’s Blum and Endahl wrote. “We’re proud of the incredibly talented team we’ve built, and that we’ve stayed true to our mission: to make powerful, secure Apple fleet management available to everyone.”