[December 08, 2020]

Weaveworks Raises $36 Million from AWS, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Orange Ventures and SonaeIM to Accelerate Adoption of Kubernetes and Cloud Native Technologies in Enterprises and Telecoms

GitOps creator Weaveworks, Inc., today announced a $36.65 million Series C funding round led by some of the world's leading public cloud and telecommunications companies, including first-time investors Amazon Web Services (AWS), Ericsson (News - Alert), Orange Ventures, SonaeIM and Telekom Investment Pool (TIP). The round also includes follow-on investments from Accel, GV, and Redline Capital, bringing total funds raised to date to $60 million.

Weaveworks will use the fresh capital to enhance its GitOps-powered Kubernetes platform and accelerate market expansion, as enterprises and telecommunications companies demand massive scalability and speed of innovation for their cloud native applications.

According to Alexis Richardson (News - Alert), CEO of Weaveworks, investors have come together to invest in their vision for the future of Kubernetes and cloud native management technologies, powered by Weaveworks' GitOps:

"Our new funding from world-leaders in cloud and telecommunications, validates Weaveworks as the primary independent platform for cloud native applications. With two years of triple digit growth, we are seeing organizations of all sizes adopt GitOps - our breakthrough approach to automating operations, deployment and management of Kubernetes applications.

Global 2000 companies are adopting Kubernetes everywhere, but finding they need more help. First, to enable developers, who each have their own applications based on different stacks. Second, to support and operate consistently at scale, without resorting to error prone scripts and manual interventions. With Weaveworks GitOps, enterprise developers have an on ramp and a standard operating model, delivering automation, policy compliance and security."

GitOps simplifies cloud native adoption and operations

As enterprises and telecoms companies transform their legacy infrastructure by adopting cloud native, the need for massive scale using a reliable, secure and standards-based operating model has never been more pressing. Highly distributed 5G and edge deployments demand continuous updates and upgrades to match fast-changing market needs.

"We know from our experience across various sectors that enterprises who are able to deliver software continuously, scalable and safely are outgrowing competition and unlocking innovation. Weaveworks attracted our attention as the originator of GitOps, a battle tested operating model for large scale implementations of Kubernetes across cloud, on premise and at the edge." Carlos Alberto Silva, Executive Board member, SonaeIM.

Weave Kubernetes Platform, recently named an innovator by IDC (News - Alert) in the report, IDC Innovators: Tools Accelerating Platform-as-a-Service Value for Developers, 2020, directly answers this need with its automated Git-based configuration management system. Operations teams control, secure and audit each Kubernetes clusters configuration automating the rollout of a standardized self-service platform. Development teams then use GitOps to manage the full lifecycle of their applications, with guardrails in place to increase velocity and accelerate innovation for cloud, hybrid and edge deployments.

Weaveworks GitOps-powered Kubernetes Platform is built on open source and designed to work alongside Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS), further simplifying the adoption of Kubernetes on AWS.

Kubernetes at Telecom scale

Telecommunications companies looking to build out 5G networks at unprecedented scale are turning to Kubenetes and its ecosystem of cloud native tooling for the resilience, flexibility, and scalability it provides. Weaveworks GitOps is the solution for operational transformation and delivers operational efficiencies in cloud native 5G core networks.

Dr. Till Stenzel, Managing Director of Telekom Innovation Pool, Deutsche Telekom's strategic investment fund, said, "Weaveworks GitOps approach is unique because it delivers a dynamic and agile method for operating applications with a strong foundation of security, reproducibility and auditability. We believe this will be attractive to enterprises and telecommunications companies as they need a consistent deployment framework for applications and infrastructure across their multiple on-premise and cloud environments."

Paul McNamara, VP of Corporate Development, of Ericsson "We are working with dozens of the world's largest communications service providers to deliver more sophisticated consumer services using containerized 5G services. We are investing in Weaveworks to accelerate the shift to software-defined services that work across data centers, cloud, hybrid cloud and edge environments."

Remi Prunier, Investment Manager, Orange Ventures, the venture capital fund of Orange, said, "As global telecoms ramp up to deliver high-speed 5G applications and services, and enterprises build and operate cloud-native applications, the need for a reliable, secure and standards based operating model is more important than ever. GitOps is that operating model for large scale cloud native implementations across environments and serves as the backbone of the Weave Kubernetes Platform (WKP)."

About Weaveworks:

Weaveworks helps teams adopt cloud native computing, managing cloud native infrastructure and applications quickly, reliably and at scale. The company helps infrastructure and platform teams build and operate their own Kubernetes application platform whether in the cloud, at the edge, or on-premise. Its products and solutions are community built and enterprise approved. Weaveworks was one of the first members of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and is one of its top 10 contributors. For more information, visit?weave.works.

About Accel:

Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Arista, Atlassian, Braintree, Celonis, CrowdStrike, Deliveroo, DJI, Dropbox, Etsy, Facebook (News - Alert), Flipkart, Freshworks, Jet, Kayak, Lynda.com, Qualtrics, Rovio, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, Swiggy, Tenable, UiPath, and Venmo are among the companies the firm has backed over the past 35+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or www.twitter.com/accel.

About Ericsson:

Ericsson enables communications service providers to capture the full value of connectivity. The company's portfolio spans Networks, Digital Services, Managed Services, and Emerging Business. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson's innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people around the world. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

About Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies, with some 235.8 million mobile customers, 27,3 million fixed-network lines, and 21.3 million broadband lines. We provide fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet, and IPTV products and services for consumers, and information and communication technology (ICT) solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries. With a staff of some 229,170 employees throughout the world, we generated revenue of 80.5 billion Euros in the 2019 financial year, about 66 percent of it outside Germany.

About Orange Ventures

Orange Ventures is an international 350 million euro multi-stage technology investment fund. It finances innovative startups in the areas of strategic interest of Orange (Networks & IT, Digital Business, Cybersecurity, and Fintech) and beyond (Consumer platforms, E-gaming, Edtech, Health etc). Orange Ventures also has dedicated initiatives for impact investments and African and Middle East region. Supported by the Orange Group, the fund offers startups in which it invests access to the Group's expertise and potential synergies with its numerous business units and 253 million customers in 26 countries. For more information, visit ventures.orange.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @Orange_DV.

About Redline Capital Management

Redline Capital is a global Venture Capital and Growth Equity fund investing in fast-growing companies with differentiated technologies across North America, Europe, and Israel. Redline backs strong management teams, and lends its support to enable their vision and strategy through all stages of their development. For more information about Redline Capital, please visit www.redline-capital.com.

About Sonae IM

Sonae IM is the technology investment arm of Sonae Group, a multinational business group with a diversified portfolio of brands with market leading positions, namely in retail and telecommunications. Sonae IM invests in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and retail technology. Sonae IM has 33 direct investments, encompassing stakes in companies from early stage to growth stage as well as indirect investments through other VC funds.

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