Participated · Equity · Jan 2017

Kaminario builds a composable data platform and software-defined cloud storage that delivers agility, scalability, and performance for modern datacenters. Its core product supports NVMe/NVMf and is certified to run on Western Digital’s Ultrastar NVMe and SAS platforms. The company sells software via a partnership with Tech Data, enabling on-demand delivery of an industry-standard hardware stack. Kaminario reported topline software growth of more than 55% in the first nine months of 2018 versus the same period in 2017 and said it was cash-flow positive for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2018. Future plans focus on advancing software composable infrastructure (SCI) and software-defined solutions in collaboration with Western Digital. Kaminario targets cloud-scale datacenter operators, SaaS, consumer internet and cloud service providers, and emphasizes real-time analytics, datacenter automation, and assured data access. Kaminario develops all-flash storage arrays aimed primarily at cloud and SaaS vendors that need predictable performance, scalability and cost efficiency. The company launched in 2010 and is based near Boston. Kaminario bet early on all-flash architectures and a cloud-focused go-to-market, positioning it against legacy storage incumbents and other flash players. CEO Dani Golan said flash prices have fallen and demand from public and private cloud customers has increased. The company currently employs about 275 people and has raised a total of $218 million to date. Kaminario plans to use the new funding to expand internationally, develop new products, and pursue strategic acquisitions if suitable targets arise. Kaminario builds an all‑flash storage array it says is lower cost than hybrid solutions and uniquely able to both scale up (add storage capacity) and scale out (add compute capacity). The company has prioritized product development over marketing until recently and says it is deployed with hundreds of customers, though no exact customer count was shared. Dani Golan is the founder and CEO. Kaminario positions itself against competitors like Pure Storage and emphasizes cost and scalability as its differentiators. The startup is preparing to increase its market presence now that it has additional funding. The article does not disclose revenue or other operating metrics beyond customer deployment claims. Kaminario is a Newton, MA-based provider of high-performance all-solid-state (SSD) SAN storage solutions. Led by CEO Dani Golan, the company offers the Kaminario K2 family of all-solid-state SAN storage. The K2 systems are designed to eliminate I/O bottlenecks and reduce latency to accelerate critical business applications. Kaminario said it will use the new funding to expand into new markets. Recent financing activity includes a strategic investment from Mitsui & Co. Global Investment and a recently closed $25m D round. Financial details of the strategic investment were not disclosed. Kaminario builds high-performance all-solid-state (SSD) SAN storage arrays centered on its Kaminario K2 product. The K2, introduced in 2010, is described as the first all-solid-state storage array to offer enterprise-grade high availability and data protection within a single system, with a scale-out architecture and end-to-end, self-healing DataProtect features. The product delivers ultra-low latency, high throughput (tens of GBs) and millions of IOPS for performance-sensitive applications. Kaminario reports significant revenue growth and a global customer base across financial services, web media, telecommunications, government and academia. The company was founded by storage veterans from EMC, NetApp and IBM and has a global partner network that includes Dell as a reseller. Kaminario says it will use additional funding to broaden market reach and further advance the K2’s enterprise storage capabilities.

Led · Equity · Feb 2016

Cynet offers an Autonomous Breach Protection platform that natively integrates cross-layered detection and response across endpoint, user and network layers. Its platform includes an incident engine that fully automates investigation and remediation actions. The company also provides a 24/7 Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service. Cynet is led by co-founder and CEO Eyal Gruner. The company announced it will use the funds to expand its business reach in North American and European markets. Cybersecurity researcher Chris Roberts joined as Chief Security Strategist to help guide organizations on consolidation and automation of security solutions. Cynet offers an autonomous breach protection platform that consolidates and automates monitoring and control, attack prevention and detection, and response orchestration across the entire environment. It delivers these capabilities by continuously collecting and analyzing endpoint, user, file and network activities across the protected environment. The company raised $18M in a Series B+ round and has now raised a total of $38M. Founded in 2015 by Eyal Gruner and Netanel Amar, Cynet is based in New York City and Rishon Le'Zion, Israel. It intends to use the funds to expand in the U.S. and international markets and to further develop its CyOps team. Cynet develops the Cynet 360 holistic detection and response platform, a single enterprise-grade solution that enables organizations to protect, prevent, detect and remediate threats without managing multiple technologies. The platform bundles Endpoint Detection & Response, User & Entity Behavior Analytics, Network Analytics, deception capabilities and a 24/7 CySoc to provide rapid, automated response and remediation. Cynet says the platform implements, analyzes and begins detecting across tens of thousands of endpoints in under two hours, can cover thousands of endpoints in minutes, and that millions of endpoints worldwide are protected by Cynet 360. By consolidating multiple security functions into one solution, Cynet targets small and medium enterprises that lack resources to select, integrate and manage dozens of products. Management states the company will use the new funding to bolster rapid growth and continue product development, enabling any size company to achieve enterprise-grade security while saving time, manpower and money. Cynet offers an agentless detection and remediation solution for advanced and unknown threats, including unsigned malware and zero‑day attacks. Its flagship product, Cynet 360, correlates and analyzes indicators from files, network, endpoints and user behavior to uncover threats that bypass prevention layers. An integrated 24/7 SOC validates threats and assists customers with remediation while reducing false positives. The company serves a global client base that includes dozens of large-scale enterprises across finance, healthcare, government, retail and industrial sectors. Cynet plans to use new funds to continue developing its threat detection and response technology and to expand its worldwide presence. The company was founded in 2015 and operates from New York and Tel Aviv.