Participated · Series E · Nov 2021

Contrast Security builds an Application Security Platform that instruments software to remove security roadblock inefficiencies and enable developers to write and release secure application code faster. The platform embeds code analysis and attack prevention directly into applications, automatically detecting vulnerabilities as developers write code, eliminating false positives, and providing context-specific how-to-fix guidance. Led by CEO Alan Naumann and based in Los Altos, Calif., Contrast partners with AWS, IBM, Google, Microsoft and VMware and counts tens of thousands of developers at large enterprises (including BMW, DocuSign, AXA, Zurich, SOMPO Japan and the American Red Cross) among its users. The company reports rapid customer adoption in APAC and growth in EMEA. Contrast plans to use new funding to expand its business reach further and to pursue strategic opportunities and acquisitions. Contrast Security provides technology that embeds vulnerability analysis and exploit prevention directly into modern software, offering continuous protection across development, operations, and production. Its unified platform includes flagship products Contrast Assess and Contrast Protect, and uses patented deep security sensors that operate inside applications to uncover vulnerabilities and prevent data breaches. In 2018 the company discovered over 1,900,000 vulnerabilities and protected against more than 52,000,000 confirmed application attacks across billions of transactions. Contrast recently launched Community Edition, a free full-strength DevSecOps solution to help small teams building Java applications and APIs defend against common security flaws including the OWASP Top 10. The company intends to use new funding to accelerate technology innovation, expand field operations and international reach, and grow its customer-success team. Led by CEO Alan Naumann and based in Los Altos, California, Contrast has raised $122M to date following the Series D. Contrast Security provides application security technology that enables software to protect itself against cyberattacks. Led by CEO and board chairman Alan Naumann, the company offers patented deep security instrumentation, including products Contrast Assess and Contrast Protect. Those products operate continuously across popular development methodologies and deployment environments — Agile, waterfall, DevOps, cloud, containers and hybrid — to enable accurate assessment and always-on protection without scanning or expensive security experts. The company intends to use recent funding to accelerate technology innovation and pursue global expansion. It also plans to grow its customer-success team to support adoption and deployment. Contrast has raised a total of $54m to date. Contrast Security provides an application security platform that inserts an intelligent software agent directly into application code. The agent distributes thousands of smart sensors that enable applications to self-protect by detecting vulnerabilities and blocking attacks from within. The platform is designed to deliver accurate analysis and protection of an entire application portfolio without scanning or relying on expensive security experts. Led by CEO Alan Naumann and based in Palo Alto, the company intends to use new funding to expand operations and accelerate its capacity to develop, market, sell and deploy its technology. The article reports a $16M Series B financing as the company's current financing event. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article.

Participated · Series C · Sep 2018

HyperGrid offers HyperCloud, an intelligent hybrid cloud management solution available as SaaS or deployable software on any cloud or on-premises environment. HyperCloud uses an app-centric, modular approach to centralize control, discover and plan migrations, optimize costs, enforce security, and scale operations across private and public clouds. Its analytics are powered by a database of more than 400 million data points across major public clouds to deliver instantaneous, multidimensional recommendations for cost, performance and compliance. The company plans to use the new funding to drive product development, expand HyperCloud’s global reach and support its growing enterprise and managed service provider customer base. HyperGrid reported year-over-year revenue growth of 300% across its enterprise and MSP customers and says over 100 customers have adopted HyperCloud SaaS since its February 2018 launch. Leadership, including CEO Nariman Teymourian and co-founder/Chief Product Officer Manoj Nair, emphasize a proactive, recommendation-driven approach that the company says differentiates it from competitors. HyperGrid provides an enterprise multi-cloud platform, HyperCloud, that deploys and manages applications across any combination of data centers and public or private clouds while offering automated cost optimization. The HyperCloud offering combines application management, intelligent cloud management, and software‑defined infrastructure (SDI) to enable IT teams to centralize control, governance, and optimization of cloud resources enterprise‑wide. The company is focused on expanding commercialization efforts and continuing to add features to its HyperCloud platform. HyperGrid is based in San Jose, CA. No operating metrics or past financing amounts were disclosed in the article. The company completed a new funding round to support these commercialization and product development plans.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2015

Swrve provides a mobile engagement platform that enables marketers to deliver personalized mobile experiences and maximize engagement and monetization. The solution includes audience targeting, real-time segmentation, conversations, push notifications, in-app messaging, A/B testing, predictive models, real-time data orchestration, and rich analytics across channels. Swrve partners with brands, agencies and technology partners such as The Guardian, Condé Nast, Warner Brothers, Salesforce, Oracle and Marketo, and is installed in hundreds of apps across retail, media, travel/hospitality, entertainment, sports, games and banking. Led by CEO Christopher S. Dean, the company operates offices in San Francisco, London, Dublin and Munich. The company plans to use the new funding to expand enterprise adoption, accelerate global growth and broaden investment in its open, enterprise-grade solution. The article notes the company closed a new financing round to support those plans. Swrve provides a mobile engagement platform that lets digital marketers create targeted, real-time in-app messaging, push notifications, personalization, and audience segmentation to drive user engagement, retention, and revenue. The company says its SDK has reached one billion installs and its clients have delivered more than one billion mobile messages; the platform processes over eight billion events per day. Swrve serves major brands across verticals including financial services, media and publishing, entertainment, retail, travel/hospitality, sports, games, and banking. It recently expanded rapidly across San Francisco, New York, Dublin, London, and continental Europe and reported a period of strong growth, including 4x growth from Q3 2014. Swrve is investing in product innovation and global expansion, and has unveiled Swrve Amplify, a new omni-channel product built on its acquisition of adaptiv.io to enable real-time, cross-channel marketing campaigns. Swrve was founded by Steve Collins and Hugh Reynolds, entrepreneurs with prior exits from game middleware companies Havok and Kore. The article emphasizes that the company prioritized hiring top engineers as a core strategic focus. That hiring strategy is credited with helping Swrve secure $15m in funding. Enterprise Equity Venture Capital, represented by partner Frank Walsh, became the first investor as Swrve prepared to embark on a go-to-market journey. The piece frames the founders' track record and character as central factors in attracting investment. Swrve combines elements of an ad network, analytics solution, user engagement engine, and user acquisition tool to personalize and optimize mobile app experiences in real time. The platform offers multivariate testing, a dashboard for analysis, and real‑time personalization capabilities. Its customer base spans game makers and broader mobile‑app companies, with more than 100 firms signed on, including Activision, Warner Brothers, Beamly, Electronic Arts, and Tagged. Swrve reports more than 500 million unique device identities and processes over 3 billion events per day. The company says its customer base grew more than 300% in the past year and nongame app customers grew tenfold. It has 50 employees and plans to add another 25 employees this year to support expansion. Swrve has raised $22 million to date and is focusing on expanding sales, marketing, and engineering under new leadership. Swrve provides mobile-app analytics and engagement tools that let developers segment user bases, deliver targeted messages, offers, and discounts, and run A/B tests. The company recently added dynamic engagement scoring to its toolset to enable deeper engagement testing and to calculate the likelihood that app changes will drive revenue. Swrve surfaces charts and probability metrics that help customers evaluate variant performance and revenue impact over time. The firm charges clients between $3,000 and $15,000 per month and employs about 40 people. CEO Hugh Reynolds is quoted discussing the release and product flow. The company is based in San Francisco and Dublin.

Participated · Series D · Jan 2015

Siva Power develops advanced manufacturing technology to produce high-efficiency, low-cost thin-film solar modules aimed at large-scale deployment. The company operates a development facility in Santa Clara, CA, and is led by CEO Bruce Sohn. It positions itself to build a solar factory for the “terawatt era” and says customer interest is strong. Siva Power intends to use the new capital to build out its pilot line and to develop its solar module business. The article does not disclose revenue or operating metrics. The announcement frames the company as focused on lowering production cost and scaling manufacturing capacity. Siva Power is a San Jose, California-based solar energy company led by CEO Brad Mattson that develops advanced solar module and manufacturing technology and manufactures low-cost solar panels. The company raised $10M in a Series D financing to advance its production capabilities. The funds will be used to start building a high-capacity co-evaporation source to construct the rest of its full-scale production line for a planned 300MW factory. Siva is considering various locations for the 300MW factory, including California and other global sites, and is evaluating criteria such as ease-of-manufacturing and favorability towards solar energy. Financially, the round included $4M in funding from DBL Investors, Medley Partners and Acero Capital, conversion of $3M in previously received debt financing, and $3M received from the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. Siva Power is a San Jose, California–based developer of thin-film photovoltaic solar panels using copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS). Led by CEO Brad Mattson, the company focuses on scaling manufacturing of its thin-film technology. In June 2014 Siva Power received a $15M investment from Trident Capital, DBL Investors, Acero Capital and the city of Wuxi. The company intends to use the funds to scale manufacturing of its thin-film solar technology and to build a small mini-module pilot line. It also hired solar industry veteran Leroy Luo as president of Siva Power China to lead operations in that market.

Led · Series A · Jul 2012

CaptureToCloud provides a cloud-based social enterprise software app that brings together digital content from the web and desktop, private social conversations, real-time document collaboration and mobile capabilities for anytime, anywhere access. The product allows users to capture web content or drag and drop items from Google Drive or files from Dropbox into their Social Workspace and then share those items or collections via email, Facebook, Twitter or CaptureToCloud. The company was formed in 2011 and is led by Ramon Nunez, CEO. It is based in San Jose, CA. CaptureToCloud raised $4.7m in venture funding. The company intends to use the funding to bring its Social Workspace to market.