Nlyte picks up $12 million for greener data centers

Nlyte Software has closed a $12 million third round of funding.

The Menlo Park, Calif. company makes data center management tools that can lower power consumption by 20 percent, the company said, citing analysis by Gartner Research. It can also extend data center life by up to 75 percent. Nlyte’s software and web-based tools are aimed at helping companies better manage data center assets, find under-used assets and automate processes that get the best energy savings.

Greening data centers has become an increasingly large focus area for big companies trying to green their operations — the centers are huge energy-suckers thanks to space, cooling and power requirements. Facebook recently came under fire for a data center in Oregon that will be powered by coal, and subsequently launched a green campaign and announced plans for a greener data center in North Carolina. Yahoo also debuted a chicken coop-inspired data center that it said would use 45 percent less energy and 95 percent less water than most data centers.

Nlyte has added partnerships with companies like HP and VMware over the last year. The financing round was led by NGEN Partners. Participating investors include Balderton Capital, Ruffer LLP and Montalcino Holdings.

[Image via Flickr/The Planet]