"This level of investment from premier caliber partners
validates what over a hundred potential customers have already
told us — that our technology is poised to address
the demanding requirements for network storage," said
Panasas CEO Rod Schrock. "Our goal is to eliminate
the need for customers to choose between scalability, performance
and ease-of-use in building large-scale storage solutions.
If you consider that experts put the network storage market
— even with its existing limitations — at $47
Billion by 2004, that suggests fertile ground for a better
approach."
"In Panasas, we see a management team with a rare
combination of industry-shaping technical vision and proven
operational excellence," said Bob Grady, managing director
of Carlyle Venture Partners. "Leveraging their experience,
Panasas is developing a solution that not only uses break-through
technology to eliminate the boundaries of existing storage
systems, but packages the technology in a product that is
designed with the customer in mind."
"Panasas has all the components we're looking for
in the next generation of storage players. The ability to
seamlessly scale ad infinitum while providing true Quality
of Service and security are foundation layers to reach the
next level," said Steve Duplessie, an analyst with
the Enterprise Storage Group in Milford, Mass. "Having
an industry icon like Garth Gibson lends huge credibility
to their team."
Dr. Gibson, Panasas's co-founder and Chief Technology Officer
is a former professor at Carnegie Mellon University who
developed ground-breaking work on Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive
Disks (RAID). Dr. Gibson's work on RAID, first published
in 1988, now provides the organizing principles for all
reliable networked attached storage (NAS), storage area
networks (SAN) and direct-attached storage products. A recipient
of the IEEE Reynold B. Johnson award for outstanding contributions
to the field of information storage, Gibson has led both
government and industry sponsored research on reliable,
high-performance, and more manageable file systems and storage
systems.
About Carlyle Venture
Partners
Carlyle Venture Partners is a venture capital fund focused
on early stage investments in communications and Internet-related
infrastructure and applications. Carlyle Venture Partners
is affiliated with The Carlyle Group, a global private equity
firm with over $12 Billion under management, and 400 employees
in 21 offices in 13 countries around the world. Carlyle
Venture Partners has offices in Reston, Virginia, San Francisco,
and Washington, D.C. Additional information on The Carlyle
Group can be found at www.thecarlylegroup.com.
About Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking and
securities firm that provides a wide range of services worldwide
to a substantial and diversified client base that includes
corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth
individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and
largest investment banking firms. The firm is headquartered
in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt,
Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around
the world. For more information, visit www.gs.com.
About Mohr, Davidow Ventures
Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV) has built a reputation among
entrepreneurs as a partner by taking a hands-on approach
to investments and working skillfully to architect and build
successful companies. MDV possesses an extended team of
experts, including the firm's partners and an active network
of seasoned entrepreneurs. Together, they focus on early
stage investments while bringing years of real-world experience
to accelerate each company's time to market and optimize
its long-term success. Founded in 1983, MDV has its offices
on Sand Hill Road, in Menlo Park, Calif., in Seattle and
in McLean, Va. For more information, visit www.mdv.com.
