The Startup That Turned Walgreens Into A Cloud Company Just Landed $20 Million

Hot startup Apigee landed another $20 million round of funding.

That brings its total to $72 million since it launched in 2004.

The reason it's on everyone's radar isn't the cash that CEO Chet Kapoor has raised, though—it's the team he's assembled. Notably, he hired Sam Ramji as VP of strategy in 2009. Ramji was at Microsoft where he had the difficult task of teaching Microsoft to like open source.

Apigee's team also includes former IBM cloud big wig Anant Jhingran, Michael Gardner from eBay and Srinivasulu Grandhi from Amazon and Microsoft Windows Live. Kapoor started his career at Steve Jobs's NeXT Computer.

They came to Apigee because it solves a hard problem for enterprises, helping them convert their Web-based applications into new mobile apps and new business opportunities. Apigee offers tools for "application programming interfaces." APIs are the little hooks that let apps tap into each other.

Apigee's tech helped Walgreens roll out an app that lets people print photos directly from their iPhone and Android phones. Walgreens then turned around and offered APIs so that other apps could use the QuickPrint service. Sites like GroupShot, Kicksend, Pic Stitch, Pinweel, and StillShot signed on to let their customers print pics at Walgreens.

"APIs are like doors, They let information flow in and out of apps," Kapoor told Business Insider. "The opportunity is not just for companies like Netflix to create mobile apps, but for companies like Walgreens." It now "has a third-party ecosystem" and "a whole new market."

Apigee grew its revenue last year by over 300%, which may make it sound like a tiny company. But it also has about 350 big enterprise customers, says Kapoor. In addition to Netflix and Walgreens, customers include AT&T, Gamestop, Shazam, The Weather Channel and Whole Foods.

The round was led by new investor Focus Ventures, with participation from current investors Bay Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, SAP Ventures, and Third Point Ventures.