Remote backup company secures cash injection

A company that lets PC users backup their systems over the Internet has rolled out a new version of its product after securing additional funding.

@Backup has received an extra $22 million in funding, bringing its total to $37 million. The funding will be used to recruit millions of online customers through marketing and strategic partnerships.

The company said its agreements with APC, Intuit, Officemax and PSINet will extend its list of strategic partners that includes Dell, Toshiba, Gateway and Time Warner.

Jim Till, vice president of marketing at @Backup, said the company expects to reach as many as 15 million additional consumers and small businesses with remote storage and backup services.

James Berglund of Enterprise Partners, a venture capital company which has invested in @Backup in a prior round of funding, said: "@Backup has reached the right place at the right time."

According to Till, the company has revised its proprietary software, which allows individual PC users and small businesses to routinely save their data.

The online service enables users to back up their data in much the same way that Zip drives have been used in recent years. @Backup's service allows users to automatically transmit their data every day to a remote data storage site.

The new version adds a Windows integration feature that places backup now and backup later options into menus of applications such as Microsoft's Word and Excel.