Software Defined Storage Startup Maxta Raises $25M

Maxta, provider of a VM-centric storage platform that turns standard servers into a converged compute and storage solution for virtualized environments, has closed a $25 million Series B funding round.

Two new investors, Tenaya Capital and Intel Capital, led the round in addition to Andreessen Horowitz, which has backed the company in the past. The company is working with Intel to develop a converged platform optimized for x86 architectures.

The storage world is undergoing great changes, one of which the trend of software defined storage. The idea is to adopt the principles of server virtualization to abstract and pool together physical storage resources, which can have a positive impact on cost and agility when deploying storage systems.

“Server virtualization enabled the creation of a very efficient compute platform that is easy to manage and scale," Yoram Novick, Maxta founder, president and CEO, wrote in a post on a company blog following the announcement. “As most of you know very well, due to the benefits of server virtualization, the main bottleneck of the virtual data center these days is predominantly storage. Storage didn’t keep up with the improvements that took place at the compute end.”

Maxta's storage platform MxSP is software-based and hypervisor-agnostic, according to the vendor. It integrates with server virtualization at all levels, from user interface to data management, while supporting a variety of possible deployments of virtual data centers, including private, public and hybrid clouds.

Maxta is working with Intel because x86 architecture is the backbone of all major server virtualization platforms. The partnership is working on business development, marketing and optimizing MxSP technology to deliver converged software-defined storage for Intel-based platforms.

"Having Intel, a world-class technology leader, work with Maxta to provide customers with the most efficient storage solution for the virtual data center supports the approach we are delivering to the enterprise storage marketplace, and realization of the tremendous benefits of software-defined storage," Novick wrote. "Maxta will use this opportunity to tap into Intel's significant engineering and marketing resources to provide superior VM-centric storage solutions."