Verkada

Verkada sells cloud-managed physical security systems to organizations: video cameras, access control, environmental sensors and related devices, all run from one software platform with machine vision and AI search tools. It was founded in 2016 in Menlo Park, California by Stanford graduates Filip Kaliszan, now CEO, James Ren and Benjamin Bercovitz, who were joined by Hans Robertson, co-founder and former COO of Meraki. The company installed its first cameras in 2017 at an Equinox gym and is now headquartered in San Mateo. Its customers range from the Salvation Army and retailer Harry Rosen to the Los Angeles Rams.

Verkada's earliest Form D filings, from 2016 and 2017, report small seed sales of about $0.4 million, $0.34 million and $1.5 million. In April 2019 it announced a $40 million Series B at a $540 million valuation, and a Form D amended in May 2019 reported $50.9 million sold. Felicis Ventures led an $80 million Series C in January 2020 at a $1.6 billion valuation. Linse Capital led a $205 million Series D in September 2022 at $3.2 billion, with MSD Partners and existing investors Felicis, Next47, Sequoia Capital, Meritech Capital and First Round Capital; a $100 million extension led by Alkeon Capital with Lightspeed Venture Partners in October 2023 brought the Series D to $305 million. In February 2025 General Catalyst led a $200 million Series E at $4.5 billion, with Eclipse Ventures, Sequoia, Meritech, MSD, First Round and Felicis, bringing total funding to $700 million. In December 2025 CapitalG, Alphabet's growth fund, led a $100 million round at $5.8 billion that also provided liquidity.

Verkada is private and has announced no IPO. At the Series E it reported more than 30,000 customers, including 91 in the Fortune 500, and in 2022 it said it had nearly doubled revenue year over year. The company has faced scrutiny, including a March 2021 breach of its camera network, a 2024 CAN-SPAM settlement with the Department of Justice for $2.95 million, and a Motorola patent case at the ITC that ended in Verkada's favor in 2023.

For venture investors, Verkada is a hardware-plus-software company valued like software, built by a team that had already sold a startup. Sequoia, First Round, Next47 and Felicis were already on the cap table by 2022, and growth investors entered from 2022 onward at $3.2 billion to $5.8 billion. Nearly ten years after founding there has been no IPO, and the CapitalG round's liquidity component shows secondary sales standing in for an exit.