Kiva Software

Kiva Software was a pioneering company in internet application server software. Founded in May 1994 by Chairman and CEO Keng Lim, the company was established to leverage the internet as a platform for business applications.

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Kiva Software was a privately held company. It secured US$13.9 million in capital over two funding rounds from venture capitalists including Wiess, Peck & Greer, Greylock, Discovery Ventures, Sippl MacDonald Ventures, Norwest Venture Capital, and Trinity Ventures. The company's core product, the Kiva Enterprise Server, was the first application server to market when it launched in January 1996. This platform enabled companies to develop and deploy transaction-based business applications on the web, supporting both Java and C++. The software was designed to accelerate transactions between browsers and databases. Kiva's clientele included major companies such as Bank of America, E-Trade, and Travelocity.

In December 1997, Netscape Communications acquired Kiva Software for approximately US$180 million in stock. The acquisition was a strategic move for Netscape to strengthen its enterprise software offerings. Following the acquisition, Kiva's team of around 100 employees was integrated into Netscape's server products division, and the Kiva Enterprise Server was rebranded as the Netscape Application Server. Subsequently, after AOL acquired Netscape in 1999 and formed an alliance with Sun Microsystems, the product evolved to become the iPlanet Application Server, later rebranded as Sun ONE Application Server and then the Sun Java System Application Server.

Keywords: application server, internet software, Keng Lim, Netscape, web applications, transaction-oriented applications, Java application server, enterprise software, data communications, iPlanet, Sun Microsystems, AOL