infoTECH Feature

August 18, 2014

Wheelings & Dealings: Luminal's New Round of Funding Brings Its Total to $13.8 Million

One of the biggest questions companies around the world are asking themselves today is, how secure are we from the next attack? That answer of course can never be truly answered because every organization with a digital presence is under a constant barrage of cyberattacks from an increasing number of locations around the world. This has led many companies to start purchasing promising security startups in order to own the next generation of protective technology; the acquisition of PrivateCore by Facebook (News - Alert), just over a week ago, being the latest example. Another company showing great potential and receiving funding from investors is Maryland-based startup Luminal.

The company announced it closed a $10 million Series B financing round, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) bringing its total amount to $13.8 million. This rounds also included previous investors Core Capital and the Maryland Venture Fund.

These investors are excited about Luminal because of its next-generation solutions for cloud operations and management. It can automate the deployment and operation of cloud-based systems to give users a level of control, efficiency, and security which in the past was not possible in cloud computing.

Cloud technology is allowing organizations of all sizes the flexibility and scalability to grow at an incredible pace by accessing resources which would've been difficult to obtain in the past without large capital expenditure. It has liberated businesses from the physical constraints of IT, but the issue of security as well as better control and operational efficiency has been one of the challenges the technology continues to face.

According to Luminal CEO and co-founder Josh Stella, the goal of the company is to eliminate the issue of security from cloud computing so users can apply the technology without any anxiety. Details of the company's platform were not available because it is in the private beta stage, but the CEO has indicated it has gotten positive responses from governments and commercial organizations that have been testing the product in the free beta version.

If all goes according to plan, Luminal will release a paid version in the second half of this year, which initially will be available on Amazon Web Services (News - Alert).

"Truly unlocking the cloud opportunity requires a fundamental shift in application deployment. The complexity of cloud deployments is only increasing with adoption, and there is an escalating need for a cheaper, more scalable way to manage it all. Luminal is developing a radically new approach to cloud architecture that leverages ephemeral components to allow for a higher degree of automation, efficiency and security," said Harry Weller, General Partner at NEA. 


Edited by Maurice Nagle
FOLLOW US

Subscribe to InfoTECH Spotlight eNews

InfoTECH Spotlight eNews delivers the latest news impacting technology in the IT industry each week. Sign up to receive FREE breaking news today!
FREE eNewsletter

infoTECH Whitepapers