Virsto Completes $7 Million Round of Funding

Virsto Software, an innovator in storage solutions for virtual servers, has completed its Series A round of funding, raising $7 million.The round was led by August Capital and includes Canaan Partners. Canaan Partners was also a seed investor in Virsto in 2008. Virsto will use the funds to launch its new storage solution for virtual servers. The company will also focus on building its customer base and engaging new partners. Maha Ibrahim, General Partner at Canaan, will remain on Virsto’s board of directors and Vivek Mehra, General Partner at August Capital, will join the board.

Virsto’s History
Virsto was founded in the fall of 2007 to address the growing need for cost-effective and efficient storage for virtualized data centers.

Virtualized data centers are transforming IT infrastructures by reducing costs, improving performance and increasing efficiency. Server virtualization platforms from VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, Oracle, Red Hat, and others are being rapidly adopted as the technology matures.

Most data storage systems in use today were designed before server virtualization came about. The older storage techniques and technologies used for physical servers are not optimal for virtual servers. While existing vendors have tweaked storage solutions to work better for virtual servers, the products are inadequate, expensive and complex. Later this year, Virsto will launch a new type of storage solution designed for the unique needs of virtual servers.

“We have repeatedly heard from both cloud and enterprise customers how problematic current storage for virtual servers is,” said Vivek Mehra, General Partner at August Capital. “Virsto’s technology and team are far ahead of established and startup competitors working to solve this problem. We believe Virsto has the right leadership, technology and timing to take advantage of this growing market opportunity.”

“We saw a clear need for Virsto’s unique approach to storage more than a year ago when we made our initial investment in the company,” said Maha Ibrahim, General Partner at Canaan Partners. “More than 60 percent of enterprises are trying some form of virtualization and all of these organizations will need to address the specific storage problems virtualized data centers present. We’re pleased with Virsto’s strong execution to date and we are excited to help them bring their innovative storage solution to the market.”

“The assumptions that were true for physical servers are not true for virtualized servers,” said Mark Davis, CEO of Virsto. “Current storage systems weren’t built for this reality and as a result, storage for virtualized data centers is broken. Our team includes some of the best talent in the industry and we set out to invent a dramatically different solution built for the unique way storage is consumed by virtual servers.”

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Executives include former CEO of Creekpath and CTO of Acronis.