With this $53M, flash storage startup Kaminario will keep challenging incumbents

Kaminario, a startup that sells all-flash storage hardware for companies’ data centers, can now put more muscle into its marketing, thanks to a new $53 million round.

Founded in 2008, Kaminario goes up against other venture-backed startups like Pure Storage as well as giants of enterprise storage like EMC. Kaminario will keep introducing features for its hardware with the fresh money, but the funding will also help to cover the costs of trying to out-market, out-sell, and out-support other storage providers.

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And indeed, Kaminario founder and chief executive Dani Golan say that, over time, boxes like Kaminario’s will become the default.

“All flash will become primary storage or general-purpose storage, if you have the right architecture, right cost advantage, and the right scalability,” Golan told VentureBeat in an interview.

Flash storage companies like Nimble Storage have gone public, and big tech companies like Cisco, IBM, and SanDisk have made acquisitions in the area. All-flash hardware startup SolidFire has also gained steam.

And Golan wants his company to grow big and remain independent.

“We’ve gotten offers in the past for M&A [mergers and acquisitions] that we declined,” he said.

Golan pointed to Kaminario’s ability to scale up and out as companies feel they need to increase performance and capacity. That characteristic, he said, “is not trivial; this cannot be mimicked.” He also pointed to the economics of the company’s gear — the average selling price comes out to $2 per usable gigabyte, he said.

Lazarus Hedge Fund and Silicon Valley Bank and “a large public company” contributed to the new round, according to a statement, as did Globespan Capital Partners, Mitsui, Pitango Venture Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Tenaya Capital.

To date Kaminario has raised $128 million.

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Based in Newton, Mass., Kaminario will employ 125 people by year’s end, Golan said. That figure should double by the end of 2015, he said.

The startup claims hundreds of customers, including Clearwater, Intigua, SanDisk, and Taboola.