SAN JOSE — Alkira, a provider of on-demand network infrastructure as-a-service, has closed 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).
