Alkira

CEO: Amir Khan

Cloud networking-as-a-service startup Alkira emerged from stealth mode in 2020 with its consumption-based Cloud Services Exchange (CSX), a unified, on-demand offering that lets cloud architects and network engineers build and deploy a multi-cloud network in minutes. Since then, the company has announced a close collaboration with the Microsoft for Startups program, a select group of emerging businesses hand-picked by Microsoft for the benefits they offer to Microsoft Azure customers in their journey to the cloud.

San Jose, Calif.-based Alkira is funded by Sequoia Capital, as well as Kleiner Perkins and GV, formerly Google Ventures. Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital jointly led Alkira’s Series A investment round in August, with GV investing in a follow-on round of financing totaling $30 million so far.

The three-year-old startup is going to market primarily though channel partners, Alkira told CRN.