Alkira Raises $100 Million in Series C Funding to Simplify, Secure and Scale Critical Network Infrastructure

Investment to support Alkira's exponential growth as the first end-to-end secure network infrastructure platform as-a-service, addressing significant demand as enterprises transition networks to meet rising cloud and A.I. needs

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alkira®, the leader in on-demand network infrastructure as-a-service, today announced the closing of a $100 million Series C funding round, bringing the company's total funding raised to date to $176 million. The round was led by Tiger Global Management, a leading global investment firm, with additional investment from Dallas Venture Capital, Geodesic Capital, LIAN Group and NextEquity Partners; and participation from existing investors, including, Kleiner Perkins, Koch Disruptive Technologies and Sequoia Capital.

"The explosive growth of cloud applications and A.I. workloads are fueling a surge in demand for agile, secure, scalable cost-efficient networking solutions," said Amir Khan, CEO at Alkira. "We're fortunate to have strong partners to help us meet that demand while we accelerate growth, explore exciting new opportunities, and continue delivering exceptional value to our customers. Our talented team is the engine behind Alkira's success, and we're deeply grateful for their hard work and dedication in getting us to this point."

Delivering Agility, Security and Scalability in the Cloud-First Era

According to Gartner, in 2024, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecast to total $679 billion and projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2027. This digital transformation is compelling enterprises to rethink their complete network infrastructure. Long-term trends like Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) are further reshaping how organizations use data, making efficient and secure networking even more critical. With its innovative network infrastructure as-a-service platform, Alkira empowers businesses to seamlessly deploy, manage and optimize their entire network infrastructure to prioritize efficiency, agility, security and scalability.

Alkira's Differentiators

Alkira provides a unique value proposition by offering:

• On-demand network infrastructure as-a-service with integrated security and networking services available globally
• The ability to securely connect any cloud, any on-prem location, any remote user or app to any other point of presence
• Agility, elasticity, intelligence, security, and scale for traditional networking use cases
• A platform to build global, secure networks in minutes, eliminating the need to acquire hardware, manage physical circuits, and run software appliances or agents on-site

"Increasing cloud and A.I. use is also increasing the complexity, velocity, and scale requirements of network infrastructure," said Rohit Iragavarapu, investor at Tiger Global.  "We believe Alkira is well positioned to unlock the growing potential of this rapidly evolving space with its visionary approach, market traction, and cutting-edge technology."

"The future of technology is predicated on innovative solutions that are not only powerful but also accessible and easy to use," said Avie Tevanian, co-founder and managing director of NextEquity Partners. "Alkira's on-demand networking infrastructure is exactly that - it delivers tremendous value and simplifies the most difficult network challenges for enterprises. We're excited to be a part of their journey as they continue to push the boundaries of network infrastructure."

"Co-founders Amir Khan and Atif Khan, who successfully built and exited a networking company, have now put together an incredible team with deep technical knowledge and expertise in the networking space," said Arvind Ayyala, partner, investments at Geodesic Capital. "We're proud to support their innovative approach to creating on-demand network infrastructure and a comprehensive solution addressing both NaaS and cloud networking while integrating security — all crucial and perfectly aligned with today's cloud and AI-first era." 

"The entertainment industry never sleeps, and Warner Music Group has been working with Alkira for years to revolutionize how we manage and protect our network infrastructure," said John Remo, SVP, global infrastructure and security at Warner Music Group. "Alkira's innovative platform has not only simplified network management but has also empowered us to prioritize business growth initiatives with confidence. With Alkira, we've gained the agility and flexibility needed to navigate the dynamic entertainment landscape, and we look forward to the future, together."

Accelerating Innovation

The substantial Series C investment will fuel Alkira's efforts to accelerate innovation and revolutionize how networks are consumed by enterprises, including by:

• Expanding its best-in-class multi-cloud networking solution portfolio;
  
  
• Delivering new connectivity models for the global Wide Area Network (WAN) network;
  
  
• Further simplifying how customers connect to their business partners;
  
  
• Increasingly allow customers to stop looking at networking and security in isolation and instead providing them an end-to-end secure network;
  
  
• Readying the network for increased A.I. workloads and leveraging A.I. for efficient networking (Networking for A.I. and A.I. for networking).

To learn more about Alkira, please visit https://www.alkira.com.

About Alkira
Alkira is the leader in on-demand network infrastructure as-a-service. We unify multiple clouds, sites, and users via an enterprise network built entirely in the cloud. The network is managed using the same controls, policies, and security systems network administrators know, is available as a service, and can instantly scale as needed. There is no new hardware to deploy, no software to download, and no cloud architecture to learn. Alkira's solution is trusted by Fortune 100 enterprises, leading system integrators, and global managed service providers. Learn more at alkira.com and follow us @alkiranet.

About Tiger Global Management
Founded in 2001, Tiger Global Management, LLC ("Tiger Global") is a New York-based investment firm pursuing a long-term approach to investing in leading, global public and private companies that leverage technological innovation. Tiger Global's public equity business includes fundamentally oriented long/short, long-focused and crossover strategies, targeting investments in high-quality, public growth companies. The private equity business invests in early through late stage companies that pursue innovative approaches to new and existing industries, building on over 20 years of experience investing in hundreds of businesses in more than 30 countries with more than 90 portfolio company IPOs. With a strong track record investing across sectors and stages, Tiger Global aims to be a thought partner to companies and their management teams across their lifecycle in public and private markets.  The Firm's mission is to generate world-class returns for its investors and to do so in a way that makes its employees, partners and portfolio companies proud.

Media Contacts                                                                                                                            

Lumina Communications for Alkira
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SOURCE Alkira