The 10 Coolest Virtualization Startups Of 2015

Nutanix

CEO: Dheeraj Pandey

The darling of the red-hot hyper-converged infrastructure market, Nutanix has raised more than $312 million in funding since its founding in 2009 and appears to be on track for an IPO at some point in the not-too-distant future. Nutanix inked an OEM deal with Lenovo that promises to broaden its reach.

Yet Nutanix isn't resting on its laurels: In June, the startup unveiled its own KVM-based server virtualization hypervisor, called Acropolis, along with a management platform called Prism. In doing so, Nutanix took aim at VMware, the virtualization kingpin that is now one of the startup's biggest rivals.

Nutanix probably could have done an IPO this year and done well, but the startup apparently has its sights set on much bigger things. For example, Nutanix has made noises recently about offering its technology in software-only form, which could open the door to service providers and other large customers.

Many solution providers believe that if Nutanix can ride the recent groundswell of market interest in KVM, it could become an even bigger thorn in VMware's side and establish itself as a bone fide data center force to be reckoned with.