Catching up on a few announcements from the last couple of weeks –
- VAST Data, a company specializing in AI data platforms, has announced the successful completion of its Series E funding round, raising $118 million in capital. Fidelity Management & Research Company led this latest round, with participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Bond Capital, and Drive Capital. The current investment brings VAST Data’s total funding to $381 million and pushes its valuation to a meaty $9.1 bn. The company’s platform combines storage, database, and compute engine services into a single, scalable solution specifically designed for AI and GPU-accelerated workloads. The company claims the combined approach eliminates the need for tiered storage and offers high performance, scalability, and efficiency.VAST Data’s platform has attracted a diverse clientele, including the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Energy, Verizon, Boston Children’s Hospital, Pixar, and Zoom. The company’s growth metrics are impressive, with revenue increasing over 3x year-over-year and cumulative software bookings exceeding $1 bn. They reported Q3 (ARR) of $200 mm, up from $100 mm just earlier in the year. Even more impressive is that all of the growth seems to be highly efficient – the company claims to have had positive cash flow over the last twelve quarters.VAST Data has partnered with Nvidia, Dell, and HPE, leveraging their expertise to enhance its platform and reach a broader audience.The company plans to utilize the newly acquired funds to fuel its global expansion, with a specific focus on Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe. The company also plans to invest heavily in research and development.
- DuploCloud, a platform engineering solution provider, has secured $32 million in Series B funding led by WestBridge Capital and StepStone Group, with participation from existing investor Mayfield. This funding brings DuploCloud’s total raised amount to $49.5 million.Founded in 2018 by former engineers from Microsoft Azure and AWS, DuploCloud offers a low-code/no-code platform engineering solution that aims to streamline DevOps processes and automate infrastructure management. The company’s software platform enables developers to easily provision applications to public clouds like Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS, reducing the need for manual configuration and saving valuable time and resources.DuploCloud’s solution goes beyond Infrastructure-as-Code by empowering developers within organizations to build and operate their own infrastructure. By eliminating the reliance on in-house DevOps teams or professional services firms, the platform aims for greater flexibility and efficiency. The automation tools provided by DuploCloud cover various aspects of cloud infrastructure, including networking, security, databases, and compliance control.DuploCloud’s platform is in use by over a 100 brands, with ARR growing by 700% since 2021. The company was included in this year’s Inc 5000 list. The newly raised funds will be utilized to fuel DuploCloud’s engineering efforts and support the company’s overall growth and expansion plans. It currently has 72 employees and plans to hire additional staff before the end of the year.
- Docker, Inc has acquired AtomicJar and its associated Testcontainers projects, which provide container-based testing automation for multiple programming languages. This acquisition aims to improve the developer experience by shifting testing earlier in the development process (i.e. “shifting left.”) Docker plans to continue supporting the open source Testcontainers project and expand it further. AtomicJar was founded in May 2021 and had raised $29mm in funding over two rounds. The company last raised $15mm in Series A funding in January 2023. Key investors include Insight Partners, Tribe Capital and boldstart ventures.