Zededa, a startup that makes enterprise computing tools, said it has raised $72 million, underscoring investors’ willingness to back businesses that enable the smooth operation of artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg .
Said Ouissal, a veteran of telecom operator Ericsson and networking company Juniper Networks Inc., founded Zededa in 2016.
The funding round values the company at around $400 million – double the $193 million at the time of the last round in 2022. This growth is in contrast to an investment environment where startup funding has slowed to not seen for five years.
Zededa specializes in edge computing – the group of networks and devices that process data as close to the user as possible, as opposed to a distant data center.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company said the computational demands of artificial intelligence make it a different and much more data-intensive challenge. «The only thing AI needs is data,» said Claudio Fayad, vice president of technology at Emerson Automation Solutions, which is deploying Zededa to select customers as part of its products.
He says data provides more efficient results when processed locally for predictive tasks. Examples of use cases for Zededa tools include managing panels in solar fields or making decisions on an oil rig.
The key tool for smooth operation of modern edge computing is called orchestration, that is, ensuring that remote devices have the necessary processing capabilities to work together.
This is the area where Zededa tries to simplify things. In the past, Fayad said, customers relied on analytics software for most tasks, but increasingly AI is becoming the tool of choice. «It can adapt over time and detect more subtle situations,» he said. «AI can provide much richer analysis and recommendation.»
The funding round was led by Smith Point Capital, a venture firm founded by former Salesforce Inc. co-CEO Keith Block.
Investors who entered this round (and who also participated in the first) are Lux Capital, Chevron Technology Ventures and Porsche Ventures.
