US-based data management technology provider Versa Networks revealed $43m in funding from investors including Verizon Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecommunications company Verizon, when it emerged from stealth yesterday.
Founded in 2012, Versa also named Sequoia Capital and Mayfield as shareholders. The company raised $14.4m the same year, according to a regulatory filing, and its website at the time identified Sequoia as an investor.
Versa’s carrier-grade Versa VNF software runs on commodity hardware and enables internet service providers to more easily manage a spike in usage by automatically switching data traffic between cheaper and more expensive network connections.
The company also claims to have more than three dozen proof of concept products in development.
Kumar Mehta, CEO of Versa Networks, said: “Both service providers and enterprises have been struggling for years with the massive complexity of legacy wireless access networks (WANs), the months-long process to add even a single new branch connection or incremental security function.
“Industry analysts and insiders have called out the WAN and branch networks as a top initial use case for [network function virtualisation], but the devil is in the details of how you build them. We believe we have found the answer, and that Versa solutions will provide next generation WANs and managed services with a difference.”