US-based network-as-a-service Aryaka Networks has received $16m in series E funding from investors including diversified conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier today.
The round, raised at a valuation of more than $100m, was led by Nexus Venture Partners and featured InterWest Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures and Trinity Ventures. Sumitomo invested through its US-based corporate venturing unit, Presidio Ventures.
The company has now raised approximately $76m altogether. Presidio previously backed a $10m series D round in June 2014, as well as a $25m series C round led by InterWest in 2012. According to regulatory filings, Aryaka also obtained $14m in 2010 and $9.2m in a 2009 seed round.
Aryaka enables enterprise customers to establish a WAN (wide-area networks) optimisation service that bypasses the regular internet.
The service means companies can access bandwidth-intensive services such as internet company Amazon’s cloud storage Amazon Web Services and software company Microsoft productivity suite Office 365, even in areas without a reliable internet connection.
Aryaka aims to become synonymous with WAN within a year, and has attracted some 150 clients to date. Earlier this month, it announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to enable access to its cloud service Azure via Aryaka.
The new funding will go towards increasing sales and marketing efforts. Aryaka plans to eventually file for an initial public offering and is opposed to an acquisition, chief executive Ajit Gupta told WSJ.