B2B Venture Capitalists Have Their Heads In The Cloud

The cloud is nowhere near a “new” technology, but it did take the enterprise a few years to trust the tool — particularly amid the rise of public clouds. This week’s B2B venture capital (VC) roundup shows investors have a spot in their portfolios for startups disrupting the enterprise cloud space, from cloud computing to storage. Plus, other B2B FinTech firms that rely on the cloud also received funding. In total, more than $193 million made its way to the B2B space — more than 80 percent of it secured by cloud firms.

Packet

Landing $25 million in Series B funding this week, Packet offers automated cloud solutions for the enterprise, including computing, networking and data storage. Its developer-targeted services include the ability to quickly pull bare-metal configurations into its public cloud. The funding — led by Third Point Ventures with participation from Battery Ventures, JA Mitsui Leasing and Samsung NEXT, as well as existing backers SoftBank Corp. and Dell Technologies Capital — will be used to take its vision “to empower companies with [a] cloud-native infrastructure they could deploy on their terms” to a new level, according to Packet CEO Zachary Smith in a statement. Specifically, the company plans to expand its product offering; grow its engineering, sales and marketing teams; and enter into new geographic markets.

Datrium

Deploying a hybrid cloud business model, Datrium offers businesses a mix of cloud computing and data management services. The company just announced a $60 million Series D fund raise this week, led by Samsung Catalyst Fund, while Icon Ventures and existing backers New Enterprise Associates and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated. A hybrid cloud approach offers business clients the control of on-premise infrastructure with the agility of a cloud solution, the company said in its announcement. Datrium said it plans to use the investment for further expansion into the market.

Burlywood

Investors’ focus on the cloud this week continues with Burlywood, a startup focused on providing flash-based storage solutions for cloud data centers. The company said in a press release that it raised $10.6 million in Series A funding, which will be used to accelerate its growth and enhance the development of its TrueFlash software solution. Investor, strategic advisor and entrepreneur Michael Jones and former Zayo COO John Scarano led the investment, the startup said, while Acadia Woods Partners also participated.

Wasabi Technologies

Another cloud storage solutions provider, Wasabi Technologies, secured $68 million in Series B funding, AmericanInno reported this week. The investment marks the largest funding round in this week’s B2B VC Investments Tracker, and will be used for international expansion and to further position the company competitively in the market. According to reports, Wasabi Technologies used industry players and family offices to raise the funds, with Forestay Capital participating in the Series B funding as its first foreign investor.

Accrualify

Cloud startups weren’t the only B2B FinTech firms that landed investments. Procure-to-pay company Accrualify announced its $3.2 million Series B funding round this week, with investments led by Aligned Partners and participation from existing backers. Accrualify said it plans to use the funds to focus on growth and build out its technology infrastructure. With more businesses embracing the cloud and digitization, Accrualify is looking to make use of the electronic data at the hands of procurement leaders, providing them deeper insight via machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Ravelin

A $10.5 million funding round for U.K.-based Ravelin will go toward expansion plans as the fraud mitigation firm grows its staff and opens a U.S. office. The company provides fraud protection tools to businesses that sell on eCommerce platforms. Using machine learning technology, the company addresses the risks of chargebacks, account takeovers and other fraud tactics for online sellers and their payment service providers. Reports said Ravelin’s investment round was led by BlackFin Capital Partners, with existing supporters Amadeus Capital Partners, Passion Capital and Playfair Capital also participating in the Series B funding round.

Yoco

A $16 million investment provided to Yoco, a South Africa-based company that provides mobile point-of-sale (POS) solutions for small businesses (SMBs), follows a year that saw the tripling of its user base, reports in Forbes said. In addition to POS solutions, the company links its SMB customers to business management software with integrated invoicing, inventory management and finance solutions, a reflection of Yoco’s efforts to provide a more holistic suite of services to corporate customers. Reports noted the Series B funding was led by Partech, while Orange Digital Ventures, Dutch Development Bank FMO, FutureGrowth and existing backers Quona Capital and Velocity Capital also participated. Yoco said it plans to use the investment for development of new features and to secure new users to its platform.