There is something a little anachronistic about what AnyDesk is doing: Not only is the software proprietary - that is, closed source - but it acknowledges all the actual shortcomings of the IT landscape today, and it is there to meet the needs of all of the many companies out there that either can’t or won’t buy into the concept of “digital transformation,” at least not enough to move their infrastructure to the cloud. “The tech community likes us because of those things.”

AnyDesk can work on connections as low as 100 kbps and still run smooth graphics, the company says. “The goal was that we wanted to make the leanest and smallest software that was easiest for the most people to use,” CEO and co-founder Philipp Weiser said of AnyDesk’s original idea. That is the big gap in the market where AnyDesk plays, and it has seen a lot of traction. Still, there is a lot left on the table when it comes to offering workers solutions that just work regardless of how organizations have built out, manage or invest in their IT architecture, or how well connectivity happens to be. Knowledge workers have a lot of options these days when it comes to how they work: apps and documents often now live in the cloud and we often have fast connections to access them and while virtualization was estimated to be used by only 30% of enterprises last year, it is projected to see a surge of adoption this year as COVID-19-led digital transformation continues to play out. General Atlantic is leading the round, with existing investors Insight Partners, EQT Ventures and Possible Ventures also participating. The Stuttgart-based company said that the Series C values it at over $600 million. Remote and hybrid working are the order of the day, and now a startup called AnyDesk that helps enable that to be pulled off smoothly - regardless of the architecture of a company’s network, or where a person happens to be working - is announcing a round of $70 million to fuel its growth.

Anydesk for windows