Cleversafe, a US-based provider of big data storage technology, has secured $55m in series D funding led by existing investor, venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from all major existing investors (which include Motorola Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of mobile phone maker Motorola), as well as new investor, early stage venture capital firm New World Ventures.
Previously, in November 2010, Cleversafe raised $31.4m in an extended series C round from investors including Motorola Ventures, NEA, OCA Ventures and clients of investment adviser Anderson & Strudwick. In-Q-Tel, the non-profit venture capital firm backed by the US security organizations such as the Central Intelligence Agency, has also invested in Cleversafe. Cleversafe raised an undisclosed series B round in November 2006.
In conjunction with the series D financing, NEA’s Managing general partner Peter Barris joins Cleversafe’s board of directors.
The funding will be used to support Cleversafe’s growth, expand into new vertical market segments and increase product development efforts.
John Morris, president and chief executive officer of Cleversafe, said: “Our proven technology is displacing legacy boxes that were designed for yesterday’s storage needs across a wide range of industries. What they have in common is breakneck growth of storage needs that were poorly addressed by old-fashioned products from EMC and others. There are thousands of customers like that and with this round of funding, we’ll expand our coverage of the market so that we can reach many more of them.”
Peter Barris, managing general partner at NEA, said: “Today, the company is seeing demand for its cost-efficient storage solution from an entirely new class of customer across a growing set of verticals. This demand will only accelerate as an ever-increasing volume of data is generated, and there is no better time for a company with the right technology to step forward to solve today’s business challenges.”
J.B. Pritzker, partner and founder of New World Ventures, said: “Cleversafe has pioneered a new approach to storage.”
Cleversafe was founded in 2004.