Madrona Venture Group is a Seattle-based venture capital firm. The firm prefers to invest in businesses that are involved in information technology, e-commerce, digital media, advertising, software, gaming, data, analytics, mobile, and infrastructure.

Madrona

Founded in 2010 by ex-software operators, Tola Capital is a venture capital firm that believes in the power of software and data to transform the way the world works. Our diverse team provides hands-on engagement to founders who build solutions with the potential for long-term, transformational change. We invest globally across multiple stages and exclusively target companies led by exceptional talent who are building essential software for enterprise customers.

Tola Capital

New Enterprise Associates is a global venture capital firm that focuses on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies. With over $19 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm’s founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from the seed stage through the IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 210 portfolio company IPOs and more than 360 acquisitions.

New Enterprise Associates

Strike Capital is a venture capital firm investing in high-growth enterprise software, fintech and supply chain technology companies.  In collaboration with our limited partners, we support founders by introducing multinational family-owned businesses and enterprise executives to accelerate growth.

Strike Capital

Pulumi

Pulumi is a  Seattle-based cloud engineering company that offers a way to build, connect, and run modern cloud applications. Pulumi provides the cloud development model: helping Development and DevOps teams get their code to the cloud quickly and collaboratively. Pulumi provides frameworks and libraries to define, deploy, and manage cloud services -- from serverless to container to virtual machines -- using pure code, for any cloud, with clear collaboration for teams and enterprises delivering on the cloud, multi-cloud, and cloud-native application delivery strategies.

Pulumi was founded by two Microsoft veterans (Joe Duffy and Eric Rudder) and offers a range of services on managing cloud infrastructure for businesses, including serverless. Pulumi’s services broadly follow the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) concept and offer a CLI (common language infrastructure), runtime, libraries, and a hosted service. Pulumi’s distinguishing factor is that it leverages existing programming languages in its products such as Java, TypeScript etc, instead of a data-serialization language such as YAML or a domain-specific language. Through its continued expansions on this front, Pulumi currently supports Python and any ‘Node.JS’ supported language (TypeScript or JavaScript), Go (best for larger systems), and any ‘.NET’ language (C#, F#, VisualBasic, Cobol.NET, etc.).

The innovative cost dynamics of serverless computing allow more customers onto the cloud without breaking the bank.

Serverless Computing

<div>Pulumi is a cloud-native infrastructure as code (IaC) platform that enables developers and DevOps teams to create, deploy, and manage infrastructure and applications across multiple cloud providers.</div>

Building future-ready applications in the cloud

Cloud-native Tech

Pulumi Adds Generative AI CoPilot to Manage Cloud Infrastructure

Pulumi was founded by two Microsoft veterans (Joe Duffy and Eric Rudder) and offers a range of services on managing cloud infrastructure for businesses, including serverless. Pulumi’s services broadly follow the Infrastructure as Code (IaC) concept and offer a CLI (common language infrastructure), runtime, libraries, and a hosted service. Pulumi’s distinguishing factor is that it leverages existing programming languages in its products such as Java, TypeScript etc, instead of a data-serialization language such as YAML or a domain-specific language. Through its continued expansions on this front, Pulumi currently supports Python and any ‘Node.JS’ supported language (TypeScript or JavaScript), Go (best for larger systems), and any ‘.NET’ language (C#, F#, VisualBasic, Cobol.NET, etc.).In September 2020, the company launched the Pulumi-native provider for Microsoft Azure, making it the first IaC to offer 100% Azure support. Prior to this, in April 2020, it launched Pulumi 2.0, which included language compatibility with Go in addition to the existing Node.js and Python languages. The newest version also includes more CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous development) integrations, improvements in testing and architecture, and introduced Policy as Code (deployment is blocked if it fails the policy which was expressed and established). In May 2022, Pulumi launched a new service named CrossCode, for users to turn Pulumi infrastructure and policy into code via universal translation technology. This solution also included out-of-the-box support for container applications, Kubernetes clusters, and serverless applications.Key customers and partnershipsPulumi serves a wide range of customers, developers, and development operations (DevOps) teams, since most developers are better versed with programming languages than domain-specific languages. As of October 2023, the company served more than 150,000 users and 2,000 paying customers.&nbsp;In January 2022, Pulumi announced that its cloud engineering platform was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/sectors/work/updates/7525">selected by Panther Labs</a>, a cybersecurity analytics company, as its primary tool to manage and scale cloud infrastructure.&nbsp;

SLAppForge offers support for companies developing serverless apps on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud through its Integrated Development Environment (IDE) “Sigma.” Sigma is the first completely browser-based IDE and offers a drag-and-drop framework for intuitive coding. The platform was also the first IDE to offer live debugging of Lambda functions, and also provides support for live debugging on NodeJS and Python functions. Sri Lanka-based SLAppForge incorporated its US entity and brought on CEO Wallace Wilhoite (former IT Manager at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in January 2020.

SLAppForge

Altostra offers a development platform that allows developers to create serverless apps with or without the use of coding, and deploy it through any cloud/serverless vendor. The company provides a visual workspace for app developers to make the process intuitive, and also offers a cross-platform command line tool.

Altostra

<div>
 
 Triggermesh’s platform allows users to create serverless apps that integrate multiple cloud, data center, and on-premise software and environments, on top of Kubernetes. Through these integrations, the platform aims to break “silos” between enterprise customers and their software development and IT operations (DevOps) teams. The cloud and infrastructure integration development speed is reportedly enhanced by reusing connectors and customizable templates. 
 
 
 In March 2022, the platform announced broad support for KNative (an open-source platform to build and deploy serverless workloads) which includes any conformant Knative deployment, along with the provision of Knative distribution. TriggerMesh also announced broad support for creating event-driven architecture that runs on Kubernetes in Google Cloud, to enable users to create integrations to sync data or drive event-driven workloads. 
 Triggermesh went on to launch a service to enable enterprises using Kubeless migrate to Knative in May 2022.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 The company raised USD 5 million in seed funding in July 2021, from Cisco, to invest in expanding its go-to-market strategy. Along with the funding, Triggermesh also noted that it would collaborate with Cisco to deliver improved enterprise automation solutions and cloud-native integrations, leveraging Cisco’s vast enterprise and cloud footprint. 
 
</div>

Triggermesh

Iron.io offers multiple tools to assist development operations (DevOps) to focus on core tasks, without managing infrastructure. The company entered the serverless computing market in 2016, with the launch of IronFunctions, effectively an open-source platform that can be used by developers and uses containers as the base. It allows users to launch serverless applications and functions on private and public clouds, on-premise servers, and hybrid environments. IronFunctions can be written in a variety of programming languages including Ruby, PHP, Python, Java, Node.js, Go, and .NET. However, the company currently only provides helper libraries and integration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda.The company has expanded its operations since 2017 by adding an office in Tokyo, expanding its engineering and customer success teams, and continuing to improve the company’s products (bug fixes, improvements to internal tooling, and adding concurrency graphs, etc.). Iron.io looks to continue ramping up the development of its products by improving performance and reliability and developing a new user interface.Iron.io also continues to invest in new cutting-edge technologies such as “Computerless,” which eliminates the physical machine altogether and allows for it to be fully encapsulated in fiber optic cable.Key customers and partnershipsIts key customers include Google, Harry’s, Philips, Whole Foods, Veritone, and Counsyl.

Iron.io

Elotl offers the “Elotl Milpa” serverless platform to deploy Kubernetes (container orchestration system) apps on the cloud (mainly AWS, Google Cloud, Azure cloud, and Oracle cloud). It allows users to run their Kubernetes workloads in a cost effective manner (around 60%-80% cost savings relative to traditional offerings), avoiding vendor lock-in, Its offering also includes multi-tenancy security.Key customers and partnershipsAs of January 2022, its customers included Robinhood, Ronin, and Symphony, among others.In the year leading to November 2021, deployments through Elotl expanded 5x YoY, and the company became a founding member of the “Mobile Native Foundation” (a space for developers to collaborate on open source projects and discuss topics).

Elotl

This includes all serverless software which does not fall into the other categories but are related to the serverless market (e.g serverless based database providers).

Software and services that monitor, optimize, and enable integrations to improve performance.

Businesses and organizations helping programmers transition to serverless platforms by reducing client dependency on vendor-specific offerings.

Businesses that fill in knowledge gaps between clients and serverless vendors for developing and running complex apps and programs.

Vendor platforms such as AWS Lambda and Azure Functions used by clients to run their program. Effectively the infrastructure for serverless computing.

Serverless database providers offer infrastructure for running Gen AI models

<div>
 
 Pulumi is a cloud-native infrastructure as code (IaC) platform that enables developers and DevOps teams to create, deploy, and manage infrastructure and applications across multiple cloud providers.
 
 
 Pulumi can define its infrastructure and application resources using familiar programming languages such as JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, and Go, which allow more expressive and flexible infrastructure configurations. Pulumi supports several cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Kubernetes.
 
 
 Pulumi follows a credit-based, pay-as-you-go sales model for its platform. The company offers different pricing plans tailored to meet the needs of individual developers, teams, and organizations.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Pulumi serves organizations from startups to large enterprises across various industries. Some notable customers include Atlassian, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development, Panther Labs, and Fauna.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 As of June 2023, Pulumi&rsquo;s latest funding was in 2020 from a USD 37.5 million Series B round led by New Enterprise Associates.
 
 
 
</div>

SingleStore is a company that provides a distributed SQL database platform for real-time analytics and operational applications.SingleStore’s platform combines the scalability of NoSQL with the querying capabilities of SQL. It enables organizations to ingest, process, and analyze large volumes of data in real-time, making it ideal for applications that require fast and accurate data processing. SingleStore solves the problem of handling massive amounts of data and delivering real-time insights for use cases such as real-time analytics, operational analytics, and high-velocity transactional applications.SingleStore's competitive advantage is its ability to handle analytical and transactional workloads in a single platform. It allows businesses to consolidate their data infrastructure, simplifying management and reducing operational costs.SingleStore operates with a sales model that includes direct sales and partnerships with technology and solution providers. It offers different pricing and licensing options tailored to the needs of its customers, including subscription-based models.Key customers and partnershipsSingleStore serves some of the largest tech and non-tech enterprises across various industries, including Comcast, Cisco, Akamai Technologies, Fiverr, Goldman Sachs, Sony, Siemens, Hulu.SingleStore partners with all major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud) and has technology partnerships with Dell, Red Hat, Intel, HP Enterprise, and Looker.Funding and financialsAs of June 2023, SingleStore’s latest fundraising was in October 2022 from a USD 30 million Series F round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Prosperity7 Ventures. The funds were slated to fuel SingleStore’s growth and various strategic initiatives.

SingleStore

Platform9 is an open-distributed cloud company that offers solutions for managing hybrid clouds, Kubernetes, and more. Platform9 offers several products and solutions, including Managed Kubernetes, Managed OpenStack, and Managed Bare Metal.Managed Kubernetes allows businesses to deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters across any infrastructure, while Managed OpenStack offers a simplified way to deploy and manage private clouds. Managed Bare Metal enables businesses to run Kubernetes, OpenStack, and other workloads on dedicated hardware with bare-metal performance.Platform9 claims to deliver a seamless Kubernetes experience across any infrastructure. Platform9's SaaS-managed Kubernetes solution offers a single view to manage Kubernetes clusters running on any cloud or on-premises infrastructure, including bare metal servers, vSphere, and public clouds such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure, providing customers with a unified Kubernetes experience. In addition, Platform9 offers automated security patching, on-demand upgrades, self-healing clusters, multi-version support, and audit logging.Platform9 has a subscription-based sales model. It offers its services on a pay-as-you-go basis, with pricing based on the number of managed nodes or instances, with optional add-ons for additional features and support.Key customers and partnershipsPlatform9 targets enterprise customers who run and manage Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies on distributed cloud services, whether on-premises or in the public cloud. Its customers typically include large organizations with complex IT environments, such as financial services, healthcare, technology, and retail companies.As of mid-2022, Platform9 catered to more than 60 enterprise clients and powered 40,000 nodes across private, public, and edge clouds.Platform9 has partnerships with various cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Additionally, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32723">August 2024</a>, Platform9 partnered with Fairwinds, a managed Kubernetes-as-a-Service provider, to tackle issues related to Kubernetes over-provisioning and cost management costs in public cloud deployments.

Platform9

<div>
 
 Mirantis is a technology company that provides cloud-native software and services to help businesses modernize their IT infrastructure.&nbsp;
 
 
 Mirantis specializes in open-source software, focusing on Kubernetes, OpenStack, and related technologies. Its core offering is the Mirantis Cloud Native Platform, a managed Kubernetes service that provides a complete set of tools for deploying and managing containerized applications. The platform helps organizations adopt and scale Kubernetes quickly and easily, with features like automated provisioning, integrated monitoring, and self-service access to resources. Mirantis also offers professional services including consulting, training, and support for Kubernetes, OpenStack, and related technologies.
 
 
 Mirantis sells its products and services through a subscription-based model. Customers can choose from various annual subscription plans, depending on their needs.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Mirantis focuses on enterprise customers who deploy and manage large-scale private clouds. Some of its high-profile customers include Volkswagen Group, Soci&eacute;t&eacute; G&eacute;n&eacute;rale, S&amp;P Global, Paypal, Volkswagen, and GSK.
 
 
 Mirantis also has technology partnerships with several companies, including Arm, Cisco, Entrust, and Fujitsu, and hardware vendors like Dell EMC, Intel, and Supermicro.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22579">
 October 2023
 </a>
 , specialty finance company Horizon Technology Finance provided a USD 35 million venture loan facility to Mirantis, Inc. A sum of USD 20 million was initially funded.
 
</div>

Mirantis

Rafay Systems is a cloud-native platform that automates deployment, life cycle management, and scaling of containerized applications across all cloud infrastructure.Rafay's platform provides enterprises with the tools to deploy and manage containerized applications, microservices, and serverless functions in a scalable and efficient way. The platform provides features including multi-cluster management, automated workload scaling, automated application recovery, and granular application-level access controls. Rafay also provides a Kubernetes-native API gateway that simplifies managing and securing microservices, and includes capabilities to include support for graphics processing unit-based workloads.Additionally, Rafay Systems offers an AI suite to simplify AI application development and deployment. This suite includes pre-configured LLMOps Playgrounds, a turnkey MLOps pipeline, central management of LLM providers and prompts, and AI data source integrations and governance. It also offers a cost optimization suite to help IT professionals manage Kubernetes expenses with dynamic cluster scaling, auto-rightsizing, policy application, and simplified infrastructure.Rafay has a subscription-based sales model and offers its platform as a service. The pricing is based on the number of clusters, nodes per cluster, and the amount of data transferred.Key customers and partnershipsRafay’s target customer segments are enterprises, service providers, and software vendors. Some of its notable clients include Verizon, Equinix, Samsung, Moneygram, and the US Air Force.In 2022, Rafay launched its Technical Alliance Program (TAP), which brings together technology and solutions providers to develop joint solutions to simplify and streamline Kubernetes management and operations. Partners of the program include GitLab Inc., F5 NGINX, MinIO, New Relic, and Sysdig. Meanwhile, Rafay’s public cloud and managed Kubernetes partners include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Oracle.

Rafay Systems

Docker, Inc. is a technology company developing productivity tools centered around Docker, a software container platform that automates the deployment of code inside containers.Docker, Inc's major commercial products include Docker Hub, a central repository for containers, and Docker Desktop, a GUI application that enables Windows and Mac users to manage containers.Docker's ease of use, portability, resource efficiency, scalability, and strong ecosystem has made it a popular solution for deploying and managing applications in various environments.Docker has a subscription-based sales model. Docker also collaborates with various channel partners, including technology resellers, system integrators, and value-added distributors to expand its reach.Moreover, Docker has made several strategic acquisitions to enhance its capabilities: AtomicJar (2023), Nestybox (2022), SocketPlane (2015), and Tutum (2015), among others.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2022, the platform was used by more than 18 million developers. As of March 2022, the company served more than 56,000 commercial customers, including Adobe, Netflix, PayPal, Verizon, and Target.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27771">March 2024</a>, Docker expanded its partnership with Red Hat to integrate Testcontainers Cloud into the Red Hat OpenShift platform. This partnership aimed to streamline the process of building cloud-native applications and facilitate real-world testing using Docker containers.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, Docker raised USD 105 million in a Series C round led by Bain Capital Ventures at a valuation of USD 2.1 billion. The funds were to accelerate investments in its product and go-to-market initiatives, such as increasing investments in developer productivity, trusted content, and ecosystem partnerships and investing in new channels and geographies.Docker’s annual recurring revenue (ARR) was more than USD 50 million in 2021.

Docker

Vendors offering cloud-native infrastructure or provisioning, which is the first layer in the cloud-native landscape. It encompasses tools to create and harden the foundation of cloud-native apps.

Vendors offering execution environment (runtime) solutions. This encompasses everything a container needs to run in a cloud-native environment, including the code used to start a container.

Vendors offering solutions for application definition and development. This layer focuses on the tools that enable engineers to build cloud-native applications

Vendors offering orchestration and management solutions including tools to handle running and connecting cloud-native applications.

Vendors offering observability, including tools to understand a cloud system from its external outputs, measured by CPU time, memory, disk space, latency, errors, etc.

Vendors that bundle different tools from different layers together into a platform, solving a larger problem. These can include an orchestration tool, a container runtime, service discovery, networking, an API gateway, etc.

Provide tools to design and build applications for deployment and operation in cloud environments

Disruptors are using Generative AI for AI-based assistants and help-bots, while others provide the technology for developing and deploying Gen AI applications and models.

Infrastructure-as-code provider Pulumi has secured $41 million in a Series C funding round led by Madrona, with additional participation from NEA, Tola Capital, and Strike Capital. This brings the company's total funding to $99 million. Pulumi intends to use the funding to enhance its platform, with a focus on improving infrastructure security and enabling cloud engineers and developers to utilize GenAI.

Pulumi

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