Avere Systems
Corporate brand
UnclaimedAvere Systems was a Pittsburgh-based enterprise storage company specializing in high-performance file, edge, hybrid, and cloud data infrastructure.
Last updated August 26, 2026
Overview
Avere Systems was a privately held technology company founded in Pittsburgh in 2008 by Ronald Bianchini Jr., Michael L. Kazar, and Dan Nydick. It developed infrastructure for organizations that needed to manage large data sets across on-premises storage, high-performance computing environments, and public or private clouds. Rather than positioning itself only as a conventional storage-array vendor, Avere focused on improving the performance and flexibility of existing storage through an intelligent file-system and caching layer. The company’s principal products were the FXT Edge Filer family, the virtual FXT Edge filer, and the C2N System. FXT appliances used automated storage tiering and caching to place frequently accessed information closer to applications and users, helping customers work with large file-based data sets without necessarily replacing their underlying storage systems. The virtual FXT product extended this approach to cloud environments, allowing organizations to use cloud compute capacity while retaining data on existing premises-based systems. In 2016, Avere expanded its portfolio with the FXT 5000 series and the C2N hybrid NAS/object-storage platform. Avere’s target users included government agencies, scientific and research organizations, media companies, visual-effects studios, and enterprises handling data-intensive workloads. Reported users and customers included the Library of Congress, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Infectious Diseases, Turner Broadcasting, Rising Sun Pictures, and visual-effects organizations such as DreamWorks, Digital Domain, Image Engine, and Framestore. Its technology was suited to genomic sequencing, digital archives, rendering, post-production, and other applications where many users or systems needed fast access to large shared data sets. The business was financed by a series of venture rounds led or supported by Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Tenaya Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Western Digital Capital, and other investors. Avere also developed partnerships with major cloud and storage ecosystem participants, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, IBM, HGST/Amplidata, and SwiftStack. In 2015, Google recognized Avere as a cloud platform technology partner of the year. On January 3, 2018, Avere announced that Microsoft would acquire the company. The transaction terms were not publicly disclosed in the referenced material. Following the acquisition announcement, Avere ceased to operate as an independent company and its technology became part of Microsoft’s broader storage and cloud infrastructure activities. Avere is therefore best understood as a former enterprise-storage company and acquired technology brand rather than an active standalone vendor.
History
Avere Systems was established in Pittsburgh in 2008 by Ronald Bianchini Jr., Michael L. Kazar, and Dan Nydick. The founders built the company around the problem of delivering faster access to large file-based data sets while allowing customers to continue using a mixture of existing storage platforms. This approach was particularly relevant to media production, scientific research, government archives, and other environments in which data volumes and performance requirements were growing faster than conventional storage architectures. The company disclosed its first major investment in December 2008, when Menlo Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners led a $15 million financing round. Avere released its first FXT Series storage appliances in November 2009. The FXT design used automated tiering and an intelligent access layer to improve the performance of data stored across different tiers. This enabled customers to use high-performance resources for active data while retaining larger or less frequently accessed data on lower-cost storage. Avere continued its financing and product development program during the following years. In August 2010, it raised $17 million in a round led by Tenaya Capital. In July 2012, Lightspeed Venture Partners led a further $20 million round. The company announced another $20 million in venture financing in 2014, with Western Digital Capital leading the Series D round. The same year, Avere and chief executive Ronald Bianchini Jr. received a Carnegie Science Award for Information Technology. Michael Kazar, who served as chief technology officer, was also recognized in 2013 with a lifetime achievement award for contributions to data storage. Avere extended its product strategy beyond physical appliances by introducing the Virtual FXT Edge filer, or vFXT. The virtual product was intended to let customers use cloud computing resources without first moving all of their data away from on-premises storage. This hybrid model became increasingly important as enterprises adopted public cloud services while retaining substantial data in private data centers or specialized storage systems. In 2014, Avere announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Infectious Diseases had selected its technology for a genomic-sequencing storage environment. The company also gained visibility in the media and entertainment sector, where its appliances were used for visual-effects rendering, post-production, and shared access to large digital assets. Other reported users included the Library of Congress, Turner Broadcasting, Rising Sun Pictures, DreamWorks, Digital Domain, Image Engine, and Framestore. The Library of Congress used Avere technology in a storage network supporting access to images and other digital resources. Avere added the FXT 5000 series in 2016. The new family was described as offering approximately twice the performance and capacity of earlier models, while the FXT 5200 variant was introduced for workloads with more moderate performance requirements. In September 2016, the company launched the C2N System, a hybrid appliance combining NAS and object-storage capabilities. Avere also maintained relationships with cloud and storage companies including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, IBM, HGST/Amplidata, and SwiftStack, and participated in the Standards Performance Evaluation Corporation. In March 2017, Avere announced another $14 million financing round involving previous investors and Google. At that point, reported cumulative funding exceeded $90 million. The company’s independent period ended with Microsoft’s January 3, 2018 announcement that it would acquire Avere Systems. The financial terms were not disclosed in the available reference material. The acquisition brought Avere’s storage technology and expertise into Microsoft’s broader cloud and enterprise-infrastructure organization. Avere consequently became a former standalone brand rather than a continuing independent storage vendor.
- 2018
Microsoft acquisition announced
[1]Avere announces that Microsoft will acquire the company; the terms are not disclosed in the reference material.
- 2017
Additional financing
[1]Avere raises $14 million in a round that includes earlier investors and Google, bringing reported cumulative funding above $90 million.
- 2016
FXT 5000 series introduced
[1]Avere releases the FXT 5000 family, described as doubling performance and capacity over preceding models.
- 2016
C2N System launched
[1]Avere introduces the C2N System, a hybrid NAS and object-storage appliance.
- 2015
Google cloud partnership recognition
[1]Avere is named Google’s cloud platform technology partner of the year.
- 2014
Series D financing and Carnegie Science Award
[1]A Series D round led by Western Digital Capital brings reported total funding to $72 million. Avere and CEO Ronald Bianchini Jr. receive a Carnegie Science Award for Information Technology.
- 2013
Michael Kazar receives a storage-industry lifetime achievement award
[1]Chief technology officer Michael Kazar is recognized for his contributions to data storage.
- 2012
Lightspeed-led financing
[1]Avere raises an additional $20 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
- 2010
Second major financing round
[1]The company raises $17 million in a Tenaya Capital-led round with participation from existing investors.
- 2009
First FXT Series appliances released
[1]Avere releases its first FXT storage appliances, built around automated storage tiering and accelerated access to data.
Showing the 10 most recent.
Products and positioning
Avere positioned its technology as a high-performance data-access and management layer for organizations combining legacy or on-premises storage with cloud and compute resources. Its emphasis was on accelerating file-based workloads, simplifying storage tiering, and enabling hybrid infrastructure without requiring customers to migrate all data into a new storage platform.
Edge storage appliance · 2009
FXT Series
Avere’s original family of physical storage appliances used automated tiering and an intelligent access layer to improve the performance of file-based workloads. The systems were intended for organizations with demanding applications and multiple storage tiers, allowing active data to be served from faster resources while larger data sets remained on existing storage. The platform was used in areas including media production, scientific research, archives, and government infrastructure.
Virtualized cloud storage appliance
Virtual FXT Edge Filer (vFXT)
The vFXT was a virtual version of Avere’s filer technology designed for hybrid and cloud environments. It enabled customers to use cloud compute resources while continuing to access data held on premises or in existing storage systems. This approach reduced the need for immediate wholesale data migration and extended Avere’s performance and tiering model into software-defined infrastructure.
High-performance edge filer · 2016
FXT 5000 Series
Introduced in 2016, the FXT 5000 family represented a higher-capacity and higher-performance generation of Avere edge filers. The series was described as delivering roughly twice the performance and capacity of earlier models. It targeted data-intensive workloads requiring fast shared access, including rendering, scientific processing, and large-scale enterprise file services.
Edge filer · 2016
FXT 5200
The FXT 5200 was a member of the FXT 5000 generation aimed at customers with lower performance requirements than the largest configurations. It provided Avere’s edge-filer and data-access architecture in a product positioned for more moderate workloads, while retaining the company’s focus on tiered storage and accelerated file access.
Hybrid NAS and object-storage appliance · 2016
C2N System
The C2N System was a hybrid appliance combining network-attached storage and object-storage capabilities. It broadened Avere’s product scope beyond edge caching and tiering by addressing environments where customers needed to manage both conventional file access and object-oriented data. The system was introduced as part of Avere’s effort to support mixed storage architectures.
Brand decisions
2018
Microsoft acquisitionM&ABackground
Avere had developed a storage portfolio spanning physical edge filers, virtualized appliances, hybrid NAS/object storage, and cloud partnerships. Its customers included research, government, media, and other data-intensive organizations.
Action taken
On January 3, 2018, Avere announced that Microsoft would acquire the company and its technology.
Aftermath
The acquisition ended Avere’s operation as an independent company and brought its technology into Microsoft’s broader cloud and enterprise-storage activities. The available reference does not disclose the transaction value or detailed integration plan.
Recent events
- 2018
Microsoft announces agreement to acquire Avere Systems[1]
M&A
Avere announced that Microsoft would acquire the company. The reported acquisition terms were not disclosed.
- 2017
Avere raises additional funding with participation from Google[1]
Other
Avere announced a further financing round involving earlier investors and Google, taking reported total funding above $90 million.
- 2015
Avere selected as a Google Cloud Platform technology partner of the year[1]
Other
Google recognized Avere for its role in the cloud-platform technology ecosystem.
- 2014
Avere announces Series D financing[1]
Other
A further venture round led by Western Digital Capital brought the company’s reported cumulative funding to $72 million.
- 2012
Avere secures $20 million financing[1]
Other
Avere announced a financing round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners to support its storage infrastructure business.
- 2010
Avere raises $17 million in venture financing[1]
Other
The company raised additional capital in a round led by Tenaya Capital, with participation from existing investors.
- 2008
Avere Systems announces $15 million investment[1]
Other
Avere announced an early financing round led by Menlo Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners.
Sources1 sources
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