The 10 Coolest Virtualization Startups Of 2015

Primary Data

CEO: Lance Smith

Primary Data, a startup formed in 2013 by former executives from storage vendor Fusion-io (now part of Sandisk), is another up-and-coming player in the data virtualization space, having landed more than $60 million in funding so far.

The Los Altos, Calif.-based startup is probably best-known for having Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on staff as chief scientist, but it's looking to make its technology synonymous with data center efficiency.

Primary Data's DataSphere offering virtualizes data through the use of metadata, with the goal of ensuring that apps always get the right amount of storage they need, thereby eliminating the need for over-provisioning storage. It's also designed to work with different flavors of data center infrastructure.

Co-founders David Flynn (chief technology officer) and Rick White (chief marketing officer), along with Lance Smith, president and CEO, led Fusion-io before its acquisition by Sandisk. Now, they're looking to continue pushing the envelope on a form of virtualization that is rapidly coming into vogue.