What iterate does

iterate GmbH is a Swiss software engineering company founded in 2010 and headquartered in Bern, Switzerland. The company develops two core products built primarily in Java: Cyberduck, a free and open-source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and cloud storage browser for macOS and Windows, and Mountain Duck, its commercial successor that mounts cloud storage as a local drive for seamless file access across providers. The company's stated focus areas are mobile security and cloud expertise, and it holds both AWS Technology Partner and AWS Consulting Partner designations. Co-founders Yves Langisch (Dipl. Informatik-Ing. ETH, MSc IT-Security) and David Kocher (MSc UZH Informatik) lead a small distributed team of fewer than 10 people, hiring engineers remotely worldwide.

iterate operates a product-led growth model, distributing Cyberduck and Mountain Duck via direct download from dedicated websites (cyberduck.io and mountainduck.io) and relying on open-source community feedback for product development. Revenue is generated primarily through Mountain Duck on a subscription/recurring basis; Cyberduck remains free. The company is privately held, bootstrapped, and founder-controlled, with no external funding rounds disclosed. It holds the Swiss Made Software label and operates from a single office in Bern while serving a global, horizontally segmented customer base of individual users and SMBs who need cross-provider cloud storage access.

The company presents as a stable, niche utility business with established brand recognition in cloud storage tooling but limited evidence of aggressive scaling. Strategic positioning is built around open-source credibility, Swiss quality signaling, and broad protocol interoperability rather than enterprise sales or platform consolidation.

Name

iterate

Legal name

iterate GmbH

Website

https://iterate.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

iterate GmbH is a bootstrapped Swiss software company that develops Cyberduck and Mountain Duck, Java-based applications enabling individual users and SMBs to access and manage multiple cloud storage services from macOS and Windows desktops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Storage and File Transfer Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Cloud Storage Gateways & Hybrid Storage (HDABAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hybrid Cloud Storage & Backup Infrastructure (HDABAMAG)

Keywords

• Cloud storage software
• FTP SFTP client
• File transfer protocol
• Open source storage
• Mobile security software

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Software Product Sales: Revenue generated from Cyberduck and Mountain Duck software products, which are widely used open source applications for cloud storage access.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

iterate GmbH develops, distributes, and supports desktop applications for accessing and synchronizing files across cloud storage and network protocols. Its core offerings are Cyberduck, a free open-source FTP/SFTP/WebDAV and cloud storage browser for macOS and Windows, and Mountain Duck, its commercial successor that mounts remote cloud and server storage as a local disk. The company additionally provides hands-on cloud expertise as an AWS Technology and Consulting Partner.

Product overview

iterate GmbH develops two core file transfer and cloud storage products: Cyberduck (a free, open-source FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client with cloud storage integration for macOS and Windows) and Mountain Duck (its commercial successor that mounts cloud storage as local drives for seamless file access). Both products enable integration with cloud storage services. The company also provides cloud expertise services as an AWS Consulting Partner.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cyberduck Cyberduck is a free, open-source client/server application for macOS and Windows that lets users connect to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and a wide range of cloud storage providers (such as S3, Google Cloud, Azure, and OpenStack) through a single unified browser interface, primarily aimed at developers, IT administrators, and individual professionals who need to manage files across multiple remote storage backends.
• Mountain Duck Mountain Duck is iterate GmbH's commercial desktop application for macOS and Windows that mounts servers and cloud storage services (S3, Google Cloud, Azure, SFTP, WebDAV, etc.) as a local disk in the operating system, enabling seamless file access, synchronization, and integration with native applications for individual professionals, developers, and small businesses.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or Integrationiterate GmbH holds both AWS Technology Partner and AWS Consulting Partner designations. The company has deep expertise in cloud technologies and integrates their products with AWS cloud storage services.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• FileZilla: Open-source FTP, SFTP, and FTPS client for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Direct competitor to Cyberduck in the FTP/SFTP file transfer client category with similar cross-platform support and open-source distribution.
• WinSCP: Free open-source SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, and S3 client for Windows. Directly comparable to Cyberduck as a file transfer and cloud storage access tool, particularly for the Windows ecosystem.
• ExpanDrive: Commercial application that mounts cloud storage (S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, SFTP, etc.) as a local drive on macOS and Windows. Closely comparable to Mountain Duck's core value proposition of seamless cloud-to-local file access.
• CloudMounter: macOS and Windows application that mounts multiple cloud storage services and remote servers as local drives. Directly comparable to Mountain Duck in functionality and target use case.
• RaiDrive: Free and paid tiers that mount cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3, SFTP, WebDAV) as local drives on Windows. Closely comparable to Mountain Duck's drive-mounting approach for Windows users.
• Panic (Transmit): Panic's Transmit is a premium macOS FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and cloud storage client. Directly competes with Cyberduck in the macOS file transfer client category with a polished commercial product.
• odrive: Cloud storage aggregation and sync tool that unifies multiple cloud storage providers behind a single desktop interface. Comparable to iterate's mission of enabling unified access across cloud storage providers.
• Cyberduck (clone/competitor analysis aside): Note: Cyberduck is iterate's own product listed here only for cross-reference.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about iterate