2024 Year in Review

2024 proved to be a transformative year for Cisco Investments, as we established the framework which will guide our investment strategies through the AI era.

By the numbers, we successfully closed 5 acquisitions and 21 investments.

More important than the numbers are the themes we introduced.

In June, we announced a $1B Global Artificial Intelligence investment fund. This initiative builds on our long-standing commitment to AI, allowing us to accelerate investments in this critical area. Since then, we've made several key investments driving the next generation of AI infrastructure. Our focus areas include scalable and efficient processing capabilities that modernize data centers, enhance data management, and ensure robust data strategies. We are pioneering advancements in AI language models to ensure transparency and trustworthiness, simplifying the AI development process, and leveraging AI's power for security solutions against advanced threats.

Additionally, we made our first investments in sustainability, aligning with Cisco's “Plan for Possible.” This bold approach focuses on three essential areas: transitioning to clean energy, evolving towards a circular business model, and investing in resilient ecosystems.

These initiatives represent just a fraction of our transformative journey in 2024. Our leaders reflect more on 2024, and what is still to come for 2025.

Derek Idemoto

SVP, Corporate Development and Cisco Investments

BY THE NUMBERS

By engaging with startups that share our vision for technology's future, boast strong talent, and align with Cisco's culture, we have strategically expanded our ecosystem. Our comprehensive Year in Review showcases some of the exceptional startups we proudly integrated into the Cisco ecosystem over the past year.

21 Investments

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*Investments that are follow-ons

5 Acquisitions

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**Announced intent to acquire

AI FUND

Cisco introduced a $1 billion global AI investment fund to strengthen the startup ecosystem and advance the creation of secure, reliable, and trustworthy AI solutions. This fund is intended to support startups in developing AI technologies that can be seamlessly integrated into Cisco's existing infrastructure and solutions, ensuring their security and reliability.

12 Investments

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INSIGHTS FROM OUR LEADERS ON AI

SUSTAINABILITY

Cisco is committed to a sustainable future, exemplified by the introduction of the "Plan for Possible," which focuses on transitioning to clean energy, evolving business practices towards circularity, and investing in resilient ecosystems. Through initiatives like investing in innovative companies such as CorPower Ocean and DESCycle, Cisco is actively advancing environmental sustainability and supporting breakthrough solutions in climate technology.

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PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT

At Cisco Investments, our Portfolio Development (PD) team is a key differentiator that sets us apart from other corporate venture capitalists. The PD team is committed to helping startups in our portfolio navigate the Cisco ecosystem and build joint value. By empowering these startups to sell with, through, and to Cisco, we create a dynamic ecosystem that nurtures innovation and drives tangible business outcomes. Our strategic approach leverages Cisco's vast network and resources to amplify the success of our portfolio companies, ensuring a mutually beneficial relationship that enhances growth and market reach.

"2024 marked a standout year for our Portfolio Development team. At this point, nearly half of our strategic portfolio has been successfully integrated into the Cisco ecosystem. Many of these companies have formed commercial partnerships with Cisco, driving substantial revenue and expanding into new verticals and markets. Additionally, we've seen several joint wins with Cisco in Fortune 500 accounts, further solidifying our go-to-market partnerships with Cisco channels and underscoring the dynamic impact of our collaborative efforts. Moreover, there has been a significant increase in startups securing Cisco as a customer, highlighting the strength and appeal of our collaborative initiatives."

Neetta Shetty

Head of Portfolio Development, Cisco Investments

STRATEGIC INVOLVEMENT

“Through the dedicated efforts of Cisco Investments' Portfolio Development team, we've forged impactful partnerships between our startup investment companies and our security business, driving innovation and mutual growth. The alignment between our product strategy and our investment portfolio is very strong. By tapping into the dynamic startup ecosystem, we unlock new opportunities, foster agility, and deliver cutting-edge solutions to meet evolving market demands.”

Tom Gillis

SVP and General Manager, Cisco Security, Data Center, Internet & Cloud Infrastructure Group

CISCO AS A CUSTOMER

“Cisco Investments has been an exceptional investor and partner for Aisera. Through close collaboration, the Cisco Investments Portfolio Development team facilitated key introductions that enabled us to deploy GenAI solutions across multiple channels at Cisco. Their partnership has been a core business driver.”

Abhi Maheshwari

CEO, Aisera

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENTS

“Key is constantly evaluating the technology landscape to monitor state of the art and look for opportunities to improve. Cisco Investments has been a strong partner, drawing from their large portfolio with timely introductions to companies and topics of interest.”

Keith Silvestri

CTO, KeyBank

LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS

The leadership team at Cisco Investments offers their insights from 2024 and what lies ahead in 2025.

“The strategic focus on AI for security has been crucial. Cisco Investments, through our Global AI Fund, is dedicated to enhancing cybersecurity and enabling secure AI application development. As AI technologies evolve, they present both opportunities and challenges, necessitating robust solutions to protect against AI-driven threats. This ongoing commitment aims to strengthen AI workloads and ensure resilient cybersecurity in a rapidly changing landscape. Furthermore, we are excited about AI's potential to transform collaboration among employees and enhance communication with customers. By making interactions clearer, more immersive, and more effective, AI can deliver outstanding experiences and redefine the future of work.”

Janey Hoe

Vice President, Corporate Development and Cisco Investments

“Cisco saw two transformative milestones in 2024. We completed our acquisition of Splunk, setting the stage for advancements in observability, security and AI powered through data, and we institutionalized our already active AI investment efforts in the form of our $1B Global AI fund. While our pace of investment in both AI software and AI infrastructure has appropriately matched the pace of innovation and new company formation in the segment, what excites us most is the launch of related products that we expect to see both from Cisco and from our portfolio companies – sometimes jointly – as enterprises and the world move from AI proofs of concept to AI deployments at scale.”

Noah Yago

Vice President, Corporate Development and Cisco Investments

“Last year marked a transformative period for AI infrastructure, fueled by the rapid expansion of Generative AI and the increasing demands on underlying networks and systems. Cisco Investments was proud to lead the way with several marquee investments in AI Infrastructure that continue to shape the industry. Looking ahead, we remain committed to investing in scalable, reliable, and high-performance solutions that unlock AI's transformative potential while equally prioritizing energy efficiency and sustainability to ensure a balanced approach to innovation.”

Aleem Rizvon

Vice President, Corporate Development and Cisco Investments

EVENTS

Our interactive virtual summits and live events provided a platform for both well-established and emerging startups to share their insightful narratives, gain exposure, and connect with industry leaders.

Takeaways from “Navigating Emerging Technologies: AI for Security, Security for AI”

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing virtually all industries, but it also brings with it a unique set of security challenges. In our recent webinar, “Innovation Unleashed: Navigating Emerging Technologi...

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By investing now, we're positioning Cisco at the forefront of AI technology

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Navigating Emerging Technologies: Empower and Secure Your AI Journey

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Cisco Investments Cocktail Reception at RSAC

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Cisco GSX in Las Vegas

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IN THE NEWS

Delve into news articles showcasing Cisco Investments and its portfolio companies.

The Cloud100

Cyber60

Investors share their sixth sense on AI and security

KMWorld AI 100

Harris-Trump election has Big Tech ‘at a crossroads’ after slump in dealmaking

CRN 2024 Stellar Startups

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Explore a collection of blogs showcasing our new investment announcements.

Navigating the AI Landscape: Fiddler AI's Vision for Observability

Cisco shares Fiddler AI's vision of deploying AI technologies that are transparent, accountable, and fair. Our investment in Fiddler AI underscores a mutual dedication to safeguarding AI deployment with robust observability tools. Cisco believes in fostering AI solutions that are not only innovative but also ethical and responsible.

Query: The Search Engine for Distributed Security Data

Query federated search is a search and analytics solution that delivers immediate answers from distributed data wherever it is stored. Users can access Query directly or through a plugin app for Splunk. A simple yet powerful interface makes it easy to search once across all connected data sources, receiving normalized results that can be used together to form a complete answer. Ultimately, users gain access to the precise data they need.

Harnessing the Power of Light: Multi-Wavelength Technology Transforms Data Centers

What sets Xscape Photonics apart is their multi-wavelength programmable laser technology. In short-distance data connections, typically, one laser is used for each light color, or wavelength. However, Xscape Photonics can generate hundreds of different colors of light from a single laser, significantly increasing efficiency and reducing complexity.

Cisco plugs in to Corelight’s “fuel for modern security”

Corelight’s open source approach benefits from the powerful security tailwinds around automation, large language models (LLMs), and GenAI. Organizations around the world are using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to accelerate their security investigations.

Halcyon AI: ‘Attacker Led’ Ransomware Protection and Recovery

Halcyon accomplishes this by employing specialized AI micro-models designed to identify the unique characteristics and behaviors of ransomware attacks. These models enable their solution to detect early indicators on a system before a ransomware attack fully manifests. By identifying these early signs, Halcyon can launch preventative actions, such as initiating backups, to mitigate the impact of ransomware.

Cisco Invests in Upstream’s Mobility and IoT Cybersecurity Platform

When Upstream Security launched in 2017, co-founders Yoav Levy and Yonatan Appel had a vision to secure, optimize, and enhance everything that moves—from connected vehicles to the entire mobility ecosystem. Today, Upstream’s detection and response platform is a cybersecurity stalwart of choice for the automotive industry and is expanding into a variety of IoT-driven segments in the transportation ecosystem.

Gnarly Binary Analysis

Matrosov and his team built the Binarly Transparency Platform, which uses an automated process to detect the vulnerabilities at the firmware and software level, and act on them, offering a black box understanding of what exists in the environment, and how to fix it.

Transforming Third-Party Risk Management with AI: Insights from VISO TRUST’s CEO

Looking ahead, VISO TRUST aims to incorporate AI into broader governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) programs, including both third-party and first-party information. This vision underscores their commitment to continuous innovation and staying ahead of the cybersecurity landscape.

MOST POPULAR CONTENT

Discover thought-provoking interviews with exceptional tech leaders in our blog, offering valuable insights into the latest technologies and industry trends.

Securing the Future: Cisco's Strategic Investments in Cybersecurity

In our fast-paced digital world, cybersecurity is more important than ever for both businesses and individuals. Cisco, a global leader in networking and cybersecurity, is at the forefront of this effort, making strategic investments in some really innovative companies to tackle different aspects of cybersecurity. In this blog, we'll dive into Cisco's investments in Upstream, Binarly, Corelight, Halcyon, StrongDM, and Query to see how each of these companies is helping to create a safer digital future.

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