Storage company Pivot3, which provides RAID-based solutions to the physical security industry for storing voluminous amounts of video surveillance, has received series C funding worth $24 million.
The funding comes primarily from Mesirow Financial Capital Partners IX, as well as new Pivot3 investors Silver Creek Ventures and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and InterWest Partners.
According to Jeff Bell, this was an oversubsidized round, and the funds are to be used to keep the company moving full steam ahead at least through 2009.
The first priority, said Bell, was to use the money to "push harder and accelerate sales and marketing" of the company's clustered storages solutions. The second focus for the investment would be to fund more product development. Bell said the company would probably experience in 2008, possibly growing the staff from about 50 to 75 persons.
RAID-based storage systems have become a hot idea in an industry that formerly was confined to digital video recorders that sometimes operated without any back-up potentials. Still, says Bell, there is a lot more education to be done in the industry.
"They [consultants, specifiers, integrators] are very receptive to us and our message, but it's hard to tell if the market has matured [for RAID-based storage]," said Bell. Bell said, however, that there are growth indicators in related businesses that will shape his own business. "We're following the megapixel bandwagon, because that is where they are breaking current [storage] infrastructures."
The company has come out strongest in the gaming, municipal/law enforcement and federal/defense markets. Bell said the company has seen early success with casinos in both the Indian casino markets as well as the standard "Vegas-type" operations. In the municipal market, the company has landed a project with the City of Long Beach. All of the company's focus and business deals currently have been based in North America, though Bells says the firm is getting more and more interest out of Asia.
