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Piston Cloud Computing developed software for deploying large-scale distributed applications on the OpenStack open standard cloud computing platform. Its flagship product, Piston OpenStack™, automated private cloud environment orchestration on commodity hardware. This offered a streamlined approach to building and managing internal cloud infrastructure, enabling businesses to quickly deploy highly available frameworks and services.
Established in 2011, Piston Cloud Computing was founded by individuals with significant expertise in building substantial private cloud installations. This experience provided the insight for its formation, recognizing the need for simplified, robust private cloud deployment solutions. The team aimed to address complexities faced by organizations leveraging open-source cloud technologies.
Piston Cloud Computing catered to enterprise customers building and managing private cloud deployments efficiently. The company's vision centered on empowering businesses to operationalize cloud computing within their data centers. It delivered a pragmatic platform for agile development teams to rapidly deploy new services, aiming for reliable internal cloud solutions.
Piston Cloud Computing has raised $19.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Piston Cloud Computing has raised $19.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Piston Cloud Computing was a technology company that developed the first commercial OpenStack software for building, scaling, and managing private Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds on bare-metal, converged commodity hardware[1][2]. Its flagship product, Piston OpenStack, used advanced systems intelligence to orchestrate entire private cloud environments, serving enterprises like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Swisscom, Qualcomm, Zulily, and King Digital Entertainment by automating data center infrastructure management[1][3]. The company addressed the need for reliable, enterprise-grade private cloud solutions amid the rise of open-source cloud tech, achieving early traction before its acquisition by Cisco[1].
Piston Cloud Computing was co-founded in 2011 in San Francisco by Joshua McKenty (CEO), Gretchen Curtis (CMO), and MacGown (likely Chris MacGown, involved in early operations), starting from a Victorian apartment shared by McKenty and MacGown[2][3]. McKenty brought pivotal expertise as the Technical Architect of NASA's Nebula cloud platform and key contributor to OpenStack's compute components (Nova), serving on its Project Policy Board[2]. Curtis handled marketing, while early team members like Christopher (from Slicehost/Rackspace and OpenStack Nova-core) and later leaders like Jim (ex-Zimbra/VMware CEO) and Paul (ex-GoGrid VP Engineering) bolstered engineering and product efforts[2]. The idea emerged from OpenStack's open-source momentum, with founders aiming to commercialize it for enterprises; early culture quirks like "Fancy Fridays" (hat-wearing dress-up days) humanized the startup amid intense engineering[3]. Pivotal traction included partnerships like Cloud Foundry and funding from investors like Swisscom Ventures[1][4].
Piston rode the early 2010s OpenStack wave, a pivotal open-source response to proprietary clouds like AWS, enabling enterprises to build cost-effective private IaaS amid rising data sovereignty and hybrid cloud demands[1][2]. Timing was ideal post-2010 OpenStack launch, as companies sought alternatives to public clouds for security-sensitive workloads; market forces like commodity hardware commoditization and NASA's Nebula influence accelerated adoption[2][4]. Piston influenced the ecosystem by commercializing OpenStack, boosting its enterprise credibility—evident in customers like Swisscom and Qualcomm—and paving the way for broader private cloud tools, culminating in Cisco's acquisition to bolster its data center portfolio[1].
Post-Cisco acquisition, Piston's technology likely integrated into Cisco's UCS and hybrid cloud offerings, enhancing enterprise OpenStack capabilities amid ongoing private/hybrid cloud growth[1]. Trends like AI-driven infrastructure, edge computing, and multi-cloud will shape its legacy, with OpenStack remaining relevant for telcos and governments. Its influence endures through alumni in cloud leadership and the validated private IaaS model, tying back to its roots as OpenStack's commercial pioneer—positioning Cisco (and ex-Piston talent) strongly in sovereign cloud battles ahead.
Piston Cloud Computing has raised $19.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Piston Cloud Computing's investors include Menlo Ventures, Cisco, Data Collective, Divergent Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Swisscom Ventures, True Ventures.
Piston Cloud Computing has raised $19.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $6.0M Series B in January 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2014 | $6.0M Series B | Menlo Ventures | |
| Feb 1, 2013 | $8.0M Series B | Menlo Ventures, Cisco, Data Collective, Divergent Ventures, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Swisscom Ventures, True Ventures | |
| Jun 1, 2011 | $5.0M Series A | Menlo Ventures |
