Microsoft Ventures Leads Investment in CNEX Labs for Data Center Storage

CNEX prepares for mass production with Series C financing

SAN JOSE, Calif.--()--CNEX Labs, Inc., a private semiconductor company developing solid-state storage controllers and software for cloud, hyperscale, and enterprise data centers, today announced it has closed its Series C round of financing led by Microsoft Ventures and joined by existing CNEX investors, bringing total funding to over $60 million to date. CNEX delivers next-generation solid-state-drive (SSD) technology critical to data center servers and storage for the trillion-dollar industry transition to the cloud. The company will use the funding for mass production and system integration for lead customers of its revolutionary SSD controller products.

Worldwide data generation is expected to leap from four zettabytes per year in 2013 to 40 zettabytes per year by 2020 (one zettabyte is one billion terabytes). The sheer volume, variety, and velocity of data is driving the need for innovation in data center technology to store and deliver this data.

CNEX has teamed with tier-one data center customers and manufacturers of solid-state storage, including NAND flash and other storage media, to address these challenges with a patented, ground-up re-design of the traditional SSD controller architecture. CNEX controller products are designed to meet the demanding requirements of the next generation of hyperscale computing, where storage performance, endurance, and power efficiency have become critical at these massive scales.

“CNEX is developing the next big innovation for solid-state storage through semiconductor and software solutions,” said Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice president at Microsoft Ventures. “As data generation grows, so too must storage systems. Our support will help CNEX accelerate its contribution to new breakthroughs in the evolution toward a cloud-first world.”

“We place a high value on the expertise that comes with this commitment from Microsoft Ventures,” said Alan Armstrong, CEO and Co-Founder of CNEX Labs. “The industry sees impressive leadership from Microsoft in shaping a new generation of data centers, and the strategic guidance from Microsoft Ventures will be a key asset to CNEX as we launch our storage products into mass production for the global data center ecosystem.”

About CNEX Labs, Inc.

CNEX is a privately held company founded in 2013 and funded by venture capital and strategic investments from Fortune 500 companies in storage and networking. CNEX is chartered to deliver innovative storage system solutions in the form of semiconductors and software. CNEX teamed with solid-state storage manufacturers and data center customers to develop revolutionary PCIe SSD controller ASICs that deliver high-performance with low and predictable latency, and flexibility for software-defined-storage. CNEX controller products are key to accelerating the capabilities of big data compute and analytics for the next generation of cloud, hyperscale and enterprise data centers. For more information, please visit www.cnexlabs.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

All statements included or incorporated by reference in this release, other than statements or characterizations of historical fact, are forward-looking statements related to trends in the market for our solutions and services, opportunities for our company in 2017 and beyond, and future product capabilities. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry and business, management’s beliefs and certain assumptions made by us, all of which are subject to change. Forward-looking statements can often be identified by words such as “projects,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “predicts,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” and similar expressions and variations or negatives of these words. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include the continued expansion of our product line, customer base and the total available market of our products, the continued growth in demand for our products, the continued, increased demand for industry standards-based technology, our ability to react to trends and challenges in our business and the markets in which we operate, our ability to anticipate market needs or develop new or enhanced products to meet those needs, the adoption rate of our products, our ability to establish and maintain successful relationships with our OEM partners, our ability to effectively compete in our industry, fluctuations in demand, sales cycles and prices for our products and services, our success converting design wins to revenue-generating product shipments, the continued launch and volume ramp of large customer sales opportunities, and our ability to protect our intellectual property rights. In addition, current uncertainty in the global economic environment poses a risk to the overall economy as businesses may defer purchases in response to tighter credit conditions, changing overall demand for our products, and negative financial news. Consequently, our results could differ materially from our anticipated results due to these general economic and market conditions, political events and other risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2017 CNEX Labs, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. CNEX and the CNEX logo are trademarks of CNEX Labs, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts

CNEX Labs, Inc.
Justin Heindel, 408-214-8170
VP Marketing & Business Development
jheindel@cnexlabs.com
or
Cayenne Communications
Public Relations for CNEX Labs
Michelle Clancy, 415-682-4552
michelle.clancy@cayennecom.com

Release Summary

Microsoft Ventures Leads Investment in CNEX Labs for Data Center Storage

Contacts

CNEX Labs, Inc.
Justin Heindel, 408-214-8170
VP Marketing & Business Development
jheindel@cnexlabs.com
or
Cayenne Communications
Public Relations for CNEX Labs
Michelle Clancy, 415-682-4552
michelle.clancy@cayennecom.com