SpikeSource specialized in automated software testing

Software testing

Software testing is an investigation conducted to provide stakeholders with information about the quality of the product or service under test. Software testing can also provide an objective, independent view of the software to allow the business to appreciate and understand the risks of software...

, and tested several business models to monetize that expertise. These included the popular testgen4web tool for scripted web site testing, offering open source software that had undergone regression testing

Regression testing

Regression testing is any type of software testing that seeks to uncover new errors, or regressions, in existing functionality after changes have been made to a system, such as functional enhancements, patches or configuration changes....

, pre-integrated open-source software

Open-source software

Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...

 suites, security testing using the U.S. National Vulnerability Database

National Vulnerability Database

The National Vulnerability Database is the U.S. government repository of standards based vulnerability management data represented using the Security Content Automation Protocol . This data enables automation of vulnerability management, security measurement, and compliance...

 (and part of the Intel Certified Software Program in 2008 and 2009), and Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services is a collection of remote computing services that together make up a cloud computing platform, offered over the Internet by Amazon.com...

 cloud computing tests.

The company was incubated in 2003 at VC firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers

Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers ' is a world-leading venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park in Silicon Valley. The Wall Street Journal has called it one of the "largest and most established" venture capital firms in the world...

 by Ray Lane and Murugan Pal

Murugan Pal

Murugan Pal is a serial entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area, USA.Murugan is currently the co-founder & President of the CK-12 Foundation, a non-profit organization launched in 2006, that aims to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the US and worldwide...

, and launched its first products in April 2005. Series A, B and C investors included KPCB, CMEA, NEC

NEC

, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....

, Intel Capital and Fidelity Ventures

Fidelity Ventures

Fidelity Ventures is the venture capital arm of Fidelity Investments. Based in Boston, Massachusetts and London, Fidelity Ventures invests in emerging technology companies in North America and Europe. Their focus is on the go-to-market stage, where companies have products and early customer...

.

The company's product assets were purchased by Black Duck Software

Black Duck Software

Black Duck Software is a Massachusetts US private company. Black Duck Software pioneered the automation of mixed-origin software component reuse management...

on November 16, 2010.

References