Multi-cloud networking and network as-a-service (NaaS) vendor Alkira has scored $54 million in Series B funding from several investors, led by one of its first customers.
Koch, Inc. Inc. (KI), a privately held multinational conglomerate (and owner of Georgia Pacific, among many other companies), is the first customer to go public about using Alkira’s Cloud Services Exchange (CSX). While it’s not yet clear how KI is using CSX across its global network, the testimonial of a company this big (over 130,000 employees in 70 countries) is a big endorsement of Alkira’s technology.
With funding now totaling $76 million to date, Alkira is now well prepared for the battle brewing in multi-cloud networking (MCN) technology, which helps enterprises better connect their private networks to multiple private and public clouds. The most commonly cited competitor to Alkira is Aviatrix, but many other companies are offering pieces of the MCN puzzle, including cloud-based routing vendors such as Arrcus and DriveNets; NaaS suppliers like Megaport, PacketFabric, and Pureport; cloud services stacks such as Volterra; and SD-WAN and security vendors such as Aryaka Networks, NetFoundry, and VMware — along with many others! Traditional networking vendors such as Cisco and Juniper are also looking for their angle on MCN.
