Cloud file storage startup Nasuni nabs $60M after strong 2021 growth

Nasuni Corp. today announced that it has closed a $60 million funding round led by Sixth Street Growth after achieving strong revenue growth in 2021.

The startup didn’t specify the valuation at which the funding was raised. However, Nasuni did divulge today that the valuation represents a “significant increase” over what it was worth at the time of its previous funding round 18 months ago. Nasuni has raised a total of $148 million since launching and now has approximately $100 million on its balance sheet. 

Boston-based Nasuni provides a software platform that helps organizations manage their files. The platform enables a company to store the files generated as part of its day-day business operations on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp.’s Azure platform or Google Cloud. Nasuni also enables customers to run its software on-premises.

For enterprises, a significant portion of the costs associated with storing files stem from the need to back up the data in case there’s an outage. A company must create backup copies of files, as well as set up a workflow for quickly retrieving the copies if the original data becomes unavailable. Organizations often use one set of products to manage file storage and another to coordinate data protection operations.

One of the main selling points of Nasuni’s platform is that it removes the need to use separate file storage and backup solutions. The platform combines file storage and data protection features in a single offering. Customers don’t have to purchase backup tools separately, which reduces costs: Nasuni claims that its platform is up to 50% more efficient than competing offerings. 

Companies using Nasuni’s platform can create cloud-based file storage environments to replace on-premises hardware. The platform also accommodates hybrid cloud use cases. Companies taking this route can use the software to manage both the on-premises and public components of their file storage environment, which is simpler than the traditional approach of using separate management tools for each.

Nasuni also provides more specialized features. The startup offers a tool that promises to help companies recover from a ransomware attack in a few minutes. To speed up file access, Nasuni’s platform provides the ability to cache frequently used data close to the infrastructure on which a company’s applications run, which makes it possible to retrieve the data faster.

Nasuni’s newly announced funding round follows a year in which the startup achieved significant revenue growth. The number of organizations in the startup’s customer base increased by 54% in 2021, while the average value of annual contracts with new clients jumped 81%. Nasuni says that 35% of the annual subscription contracts that it signs are worth more than $350,000 per year.

“Cybersecurity threats such as ransomware are forcing businesses to think differently about their data infrastructure,” said Nasuni Chief Executive Officer Paul Flanagan. “Nasuni pioneered the cloud-based file data services category almost a decade ago and has led the way in defining the architecture, business model and user experience. This investment and our continued, rapid growth are validation of our vision.”

Nasuni will use a part of the proceeds from its new funding round to build new features for its  file storage platform. The company also has plans to grow international operations. 

Nasuni is targeting a fast-growing market. International Data Corp. estimates that the cloud file services market is on track to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate of 40% and will be worth $14 billion by 2025.

Image: Nasuni