Data recoveryJapanese VC invests in disaster data recovery specialist
Sumitomo’s U.S.-based venture investment arm, Presidio Ventures, has made an investment in Axxana, a specialist in data protection in the event of disasters
Axxana the other day announced that Sumitomo’s U.S.-based venture investment arm, Presidio Ventures, has made an investment into the company.
The Asia-Pacific region has experienced numerous natural disasters recently, including the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year. As a result, Japanese businesses have been prioritizing the search for reliable disaster recovery solutions. Axxana says its Phoenix System will enable businesses in the area to protect and recover 100 percent of their data in the event of even a regional disaster and with little additional investment.
“It is important for Axxana to have a strong strategic partner in Japan in light of our growing number of customers world-wide,” said Eli Efrat, Axxana’s CEO. “Sumitomo’s investment into our company is validation that Axxana’s promise of reliable and affordable disaster recovery is as appealing in Asia as in every other part of the world…perhaps even more so, considering the recent experiences of terrible loss in the region. We are proud to have Sumitomo as a strategic partner in Japan and Asia as a whole.”
The Phoenix System RP with EMC VNX Series was developed in cooperation with EMC’s RecoverPoint and is available through EMC Select. Axxana says the system provides a competitive advantage in the replication space for EMC over other storage vendors by delivering synchronous disaster recovery over asynchronous infrastructure at an affordable price.
“Thanks to ongoing cooperation with technically-discriminating, customer-oriented entities within our group, Sumitomo enjoys a unique ability to deeply qualify new IT investments, as we have done in the case of Axxana and with excellent results. Generally speaking, as Japan is situated in an area of frequent natural disasters, customers there are particularly understanding of the need for reliable and cost-effective disaster recovery solutions. Especially following the latest tragic disasters in Japan, we believe Axxana’s message of 100% data recovery over unlimited distance and at reasonable cost will prove to be very attractive to Japanese customers,” said Tsuyoshi Konda, GM of Principal Investment Department at Sumitomo Corporation.
“We chose to invest in Axxana and its DR solution as we see a growing need for cost-effective synchronous recovery over large distances. In particular, the clever solution that Axxana has developed demonstrates perfectly a key characteristic we seek when assessing the potential of a new technology investment: creative innovation based upon a strong understanding of the customer’s needs. With this balance in place, Axxana is able to offer some of the most substantial innovations in disaster recovery technology we’ve seen in years,” said Toshihiko Kuskabe , president and CEO at Presidio Ventures.
