Coghead recently announced that it has secured $8 million in second-round funding. American Capital Strategies Ltd. led the round with participation from SAP Ventures, a division of SAP AG, and existing investor El Dorado Ventures. Coghead will use the funds to promote and support the large-scale adoption of its web-based application creation and delivery platform.

“We see tremendous market opportunity for the Coghead service and the simplicity, choice, and control it delivers to a segment of the market that has long been under-served by the software industry,” said Lisa Reeves, senior vice president, SAP Ventures. “SAP Ventures is deeply committed to technologies that foster customer-driven innovation, and we are pleased to support Coghead in bringing new speed and flexibility to application creation.”

Coghead has struck a chord with problem-solvers in small and large businesses alike that are looking for a simple way to create applications that solve specific business challenges. Within a few hours, tech-savvy people can create applications with forms, a database, and business logic using Coghead's 100 percent web-based approach — no coding required. Since launching its public beta program in October 2006, Coghead has attracted more than 16,000 developers who are creating customized web-based applications for a wide variety of needs — from managing sales pipelines to tracking donations to churches. The service will be generally available in the first half of 2007. To register for the beta or to learn more about Coghead, go to http://www.coghead.com.

American Capital is the second-largest U.S. publicly-traded alternative asset manager with approximately $11 billion in assets under management. Matt Bigge, vice president of the technology group at American Capital, will join Coghead’s board of directors. “Coghead has a compelling value proposition that can have a direct and immediate effect on a company’s bottom line,” said Bigge. “As part of the do-it-yourself-web, Coghead is poised to carve out a completely new niche in the software market by providing those closest to a business challenge with a way to quickly and easily develop a solution.”

“The interest in Coghead has been phenomenal. It’s clear that business users are crying out for simple solutions to the real and difficult everyday problems that they face, and Coghead is a welcome remedy to those challenges. The excitement and support that has been building will be a real boon to the Coghead community as customers continue to interact and share their Coghead applications,” said Paul McNamara, Coghead CEO. “The support of industry leaders such as American Capital, El Dorado Ventures, and SAP not only validates Coghead’s vision, but also provides invaluable industry experience and knowledge as we acquire and grow our member base.”

Coghead provides a radically new way for tech-savvy businesspeople to create, manage, and deliver their own web-based applications. The Coghead service enables the users closest to a business challenge to create customized solutions in hours or days at a fraction of the cost of large packaged applications or custom development projects. Founded in May 2003 and funded by El Dorado Ventures, American Capital, and SAP, Coghead is staffed by industry veterans, serial entrepreneurs, and some of the brightest minds in software.

For more information, please visit www.coghead.com