Nicira’s NVP is a software-based system that creates a distributed virtual network infrastructure fully decoupled from physical network hardware, shifting intelligence and control into software. The platform forms a thin software layer that treats the physical network as an IP backplane and enables virtual networks with the same properties as physical networks, including security and QoS policies, L2 reachability, and higher-level service capabilities. Nicira says organizations can provision and deploy services in minutes rather than weeks or months without changing existing hardware or software; all that is required is IP connectivity. NVP is compatible with any data center network hardware and can be deployed on existing networks while allowing future hardware changes without disrupting virtual network operations. The software is delivered via a usage-based monthly subscription model that scales per virtual network port. The company counts AT&T, eBay, Fidelity Investments, NTT and Rackspace as customers and has recruited several executives from Cisco. Nicira has raised $50 million in funding to date from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates and individual backers such as Diane Greene and Andy Rachleff.

Total raised

$50M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2012