Pertino Raises $20M For Cloud-Based Networking Service That Foretells A New Wave Of Disruption For Enterprise Giants

Pertino has raised $20 million for its networking technology that small businesses can use to go online and create a network that runs entirely in the cloud. New investor Jafco Ventures led the Series B funding with participation from existing investors, including Norwest Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Pertino raised $8.85 million in a Series A round.

The company, in limited availability since last month, uses Amazon Web Service (AWS), and other cloud services, making it possible for a business of any size to create secure networks without investing in expensive, proprietary big box hardware. The company represents how businesses are creating new markets by leveraging data centers and the mesh of infrastructure that now essentially covers the planet. A software networking company would not have been possible a few years ago. It would have cost a fortune in networking gear and an army of IT professionals.

Pertino CEO Craig Elliott said in an email interview that the company used the Series A funding, which it still has mostly in reserve, for its product development, beta program and limited availability launch. The new funding will help drive its go-to-market build-out.

Pertino is initially focused on the small business market and is employing a direct-via-web sales model that includes a free-version of its product. It is also leveraging the Spiceworks IT community platform as part its go-to-market strategy. Demand is less customer-specific and more community-driven, Elliott said The top “asks” have been around broader support for desktop and mobile devices.

Big Switch Networks and Nicira, now owned by VMware, are serving the enterprise market with their SDN technology as are Cisco, Citrix and a host of other vendors.

The transition to software based networking will have the same force of impact as online apps have had on the enterprise software market. New companies will innovate and the older, established players will focus on retaining customers. Pertino tells of that shift. It speaks of a disruption to come as hardware gets consumed by software and more companies realize the efficiencies and new capabilities they receive when they can program their infrastructure through services like AWS.