IaaS Provider Faction Raises $11 Million in Funding

Cloud infrastructure provider Faction has raised $11 million in new funding to help expand the company and meet customer demand.

Existing investors Meritage Funds and Sweetwater Capital participated in the funding, along with new investors, Charterhouse Strategic Partners and Rifkin-Pottle Group. Debt financing from Ares Capital Corporation was also part of the round. 

According to Faction, in 2016 the company saw 44 percent year-over-year growth, and expects similar results in 2017. Also in 2016, Faction released its Internetwork eXchange (FIX) solution, which it says allows enterprises to securely connect private cloud and colocation resources into public clouds.

“The continued substantial support we’re receiving from reputable and knowledgeable investors is a testament to the groundbreaking technology developments we’re creating in the cloud arena, especially with our unique hybrid cloud and multi-cloud environments,” Luke Norris, CEO and Founder of Faction said in a statement. “This new funding round will go toward serving our rapidly growing customer base, bringing new products to the market, expanding our employee base and growing our global footprint. Look out for a steady stream of news from Faction this year.”

Faction, formerly known as Peak, distributes its IaaS through channel partners, including Accelerite, Avnet and NYI. The company works with technology partners NetApp, Cisco, Brocade, VMware, and Dell.

“The Faction team has earned our respect and enthusiasm by consistently delivering strong top-line growth coupled with substantial gross margins,” David Solomon, Managing Director of Meritage Funds said. “Faction’s IaaS offerings clearly met and exceeded the needs of the Company’s target customers as evidenced by the addition of a record number of new customers, a record setting number of Faction customers expanding their current service and customer retention rates well in excess of industry expectations. It is obvious that Luke Norris along with the entire executive team are fully committed to the highest level of service along with continued expansion of the company’s enterprise-class IaaS cloud and hybrid cloud solutions to meet and exceed current and prospective customers’ needs in our niche of the cloud infrastructure marketplace.”

Faction has raised $27 million in funding since December 2013.

Though the public cloud market is highly competitive, IaaS providers that focus specifically on the channel are a bit harder to come by. Faction is part of this latter group, which includes Cambridge, Mass.-based ProfitBricks, and Neverfail, which is based in Austin, Tx.