Microsoft Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of software provider Microsoft, led a series C round for US-based data storage technology developer CNex Labs on Wednesday, with participation from unnamed existing investors.
The size of the round was undisclosed but brought CNex’s total funding to more than $60m according to a press release. Deals database Pitchbook placed its size at $13.2m.
CNex Labs was founded in 2013 but remained in stealth mode until 2016. It produces solid-stage drive technology for data centres used by enterprise clients and cloud providers, and raised $20m in financing in 2014 and $18.8m in 2015 according to securities filings.
The company’s backers include Cisco Investments, a subsidiary of networking equipment maker Cisco, electronics producer Samsung, storage technology provider Seagate, chipmakers Micron Technology and UMC, the latter through its UMC Capital unit, Sierra Ventures, Walden International and LDV Partners.
Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice-president at Microsoft Ventures, said: “CNex is developing the next big innovation for solid-state storage through semiconductor and software solutions.
“As data generation grows, so too must storage systems. Our support will help CNex accelerate its contribution to new breakthroughs in the evolution toward a cloud-first world.”