In a beacon of hope for onlooking founders, Y Combinator reject and network analytics startup Kentik Technologies locked down a $23 million Series B this morning.
Let’s be honest — most of us don’t know anything about network infrastructure. Fortunately for most of us, we can afford not to know. For internet service providers and companies making use of a large number of APIs, being able to quickly receive transparent network information means you have to refresh your Yelp, Box and Pandora accounts fewer times to get what you need.
While it’s easy for us to unplug our routers at the first sign of trouble, most companies have complex server systems where advanced tactics like rebooting and unplugging are often not effective.
Kentik gives companies the infrastructure data they need to detect network attacks, log performance and plan and engineer systems with a time machine feature to see inside the network at various points in history. Companies are handling close to a zettabyte (one trillion gigabytes) of information, and Kentik wants to help customers quickly break some of it into actionable insights.
This logging feature is one of the biggest market differentiators for Kentik. Datadog, one of Kentik’s competitors, raised a $94.5 million Series D back in January of this year.
CEO and co-founder Avi Freedman noted that on a revenue basis, the company is moving past “single digit millions” and into “double digit territory.” Kentik has over 60 customers, and while 80 percent are domestic, the company is developing a strong presence in Western Europe.
The $23 million round was led by Third Point Ventures, with participation by existing investors August Capital, Data Collective (DCVC), First Round Capital and Engineering Capital, and new investors Glynn Capital and David Ulevitch.