Aiven, a cloud computing startup that provides a managed cloud database and messaging services, recently raised €8 million ($89,56,000) in a Series A funding round led by Earlybird Venture Capital. Lifeline Ventures and Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa were the other participants in the financing round.
The Finland-based startup stated the new investment will be used to enhance Aiven’s cloud data platform with more integrated solutions and expand its business reach globally. Apart from funding, Aiven added Hendrik Brandis, the partner and co-founder of Earlybird, into its board of directors.
Established in 2016 by security professionals Hannu Valtonen, Heikki Nousiainen, Mika Eloranta, and Oskari Saarenmaa, Aiven is a SaaS-based ISO 27001 certified provider of cloud data platform, operating managed open-source database, event streaming, cache, search, and graphing solutions. The company claims that all its services cover all the needs of internet applications.
Speaking on the new investment, Oskari Saarenmaa, the co-founder and CEO at Aiven, stated, “We see a tremendous number of companies around the world now implementing their new real-time data platforms in the cloud. The new funding will allow us to better cater to their requirements.”
“Aiven’s ability to outcompete established market players and build a highly capital efficient international business is impressive. We’re eager to become a part of the story and continue growing the company,” discusses Brandis.
Recently, another SaaS startup Sqreen raised $14 million in a series A round of funding led by Greylock Partners along with the participation from existing investors Y Combinator, Alven Capital, and Point Nine. The San Francisco, California-based company helps developers monitor and protect their web applications from vulnerabilities and cyber-attacks.
Sqreen was founded in 2015 by Apple’s former security veterans Jean-Baptiste Aviat and Pierre Betouin. The startup offers an Application Security Management (ASM) platform with a technology known as Runtime Application Self-Protection Security (RASP), which is used to embed microagents into applications to identify threats. Sqreen claims that it offers real-time insights on suspicious activities to companies like ZipRecruiter, Le Monde, and BlaBlaCar.
Pierre Betouin, the CEO and co-founder of Sqreen also the former leader of Apple’s security Red Team, stated that Sqreen’s security platform protects from all the common attacks, including SQL injections, broken authentication, and cross-site scripting (XSS).
