Panzura scores $12M to make cloud apps better, faster, more productive

Cloud storage provider Panzura has raised $12 million in a second round of funding. The San Jose, Calif., company aims to provide Web-connected cloud storage that is faster than storage devices attached directly to locally hosted servers.

The startup debuted its Application Cloud Controller hardware in June. Its controller works by inspecting data packets and then using hardware acceleration to fetch or store data quickly. For security-conscious corporate users, it also encrypts data so it can be sent over the network safely.

The product also works with Microsoft SharePoint collaboration software, which it says can speed as much as 20 times when division offices are sharing the same data. It also supports other applications such as Common Internet File Systems (CIFS) and Network File Systems (NFS).

This latest round of funding was led by Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm Khosla Ventures.