When Cisco Investments looks to make an investment, we look at startups beneath the surface level. The solution and its practical applications are only one part of the equation when we’re deciding whether an investment is a good fit for us.
“Fit” is the primary word there.
We want to be good partners. We want to build strong relationships. We want to see our startups grow.
Those relationships were on full display last month during a cocktail reception hosted by our Aspire Fund — a fund we created to provide diverse-led startups and venture funds an equal opportunity to venture capital — during the RSA Security Conference. With executives from across our portfolio and Aspire Fund leaders on hand, we reflected on the near dozen startups and funds we’ve impacted through Aspire.
We value the unique perspective that diverse founders bring to our investment ecosystem. While together, we asked them to share some thoughts about the current market, and what excites them. Here is what they, along with some of our executives, had to say.
Kleida Martiro, Partner, Glasswing Ventures: The trends and technologies that I'm currently watching are threefold. One is in software supply chain management, one is in identity, and one is AI and security. Within the first one, what we're really noticing in software supply chain management is that developers are building internal solutions to and lifting code from open-source solutions. And with that come a lot of vulnerabilities.
Hear more in Kleida’s video below.
Lo Toney, Managing Partner, Plexo Capital: We’re very excited about artificial intelligence...If every company is a software developer or software vendor or software integrator, they now have to think about artificial intelligence.
Hear more in Lo’s video below.
Derek Idemoto, SVP, Cisco Investments: The biggest trend right out there right now is AI. And there's no question about that. On the Cisco investments side and corporate development front, we've acquired several companies in the AI space. We've invested in 5 to 10 companies. It is the biggest force of nature right now that we're seeing.
Hear more in Derek’s Video below.
Noah Yago, VP, Cisco Investments: Well, of course top of everyone's mind is artificial intelligence. And for us, it's not just generative AI, but it's also the vertical applications where we can see use cases in areas such as security and observability, as well as the developer toolchain and the entire ecosystem around the artificial intelligence landscape.
Aleem Rizvon, VP, Cisco Investments: The technology that we are very excited about in Cisco across the board is Artificial Intelligence. Within the networking space that my team covers, there are two aspects that we are working on. One is AI for networking and the other one is networking for AI. The AI for networking allows us to bring all of the emerging new technologies that are available to automate our networks, to manage our networks, and provide compelling end user experience.
Hear more in Aleem’s video below.
Prasad Parthasarathi, Senior Director, Cisco Investments
If I had to pick a subset, I would identify three trends. Number one is the power of open source. We as an industry are finally leveraging the open source community in its full ferocity...
...Number two, I'm also very excited about our steady but sustainable journey towards an autonomous SOC and that journey got supercharged with access to large language models and generative AI. Now we have the ability to assist our security analysts in identifying, prioritizing and remediating security threats across the landscape...
...And finally, one other use case that I would like to shine light on is the prioritization of critical sectors and OT, IoT as a once again emergent spending category. We are finding that critical industries such as power and gas, electricity, automotive, health care are coming up under increased adversarial attacks.
Hear more in Prasad’s video below.
Advancements in Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, and open-source innovations are impacting the whole world. They’re driving major improvements in technology, emphasizing the need for robust vulnerability management and sophisticated identity authentication frameworks. AI is significantly enhancing productivity and security across various industries, enabling unparalleled data insights and new product development. The power of the open-source community is fostering unprecedented levels of visibility and security, setting the stage for continued innovation and resilience in the face of evolving challenges.
For more information our Cisco’s commitment to social justice, and Cisco Investments' Aspire Fund, please visit: https://www.ciscoinvestments.com/aspire-fund.