Liberty Lake-based Vega Cloud raises $9 million in funding for product development, business growth

Vega Cloud, a Liberty Lake-based company that assists businesses with managing cloud infrastructure, has raised $9 million to develop new products and support growth.

The debt and equity funding round was led by Lehi, Utah-based Album VC and Sun Mountain Capital of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Debt financing refers to borrowing funds, while equity financing is when a startup sells a portion of the company to an investor.

The investment allows Vega Cloud to boost product development and meet increasing demand from businesses for cloud-based services, said Kris Bliesner, Vega Cloud co-founder and CEO.

Bliesner declined to comment on Vega Cloud’s specific revenue growth, but indicated business was “growing exponentially.”

“It’s a huge increase from last year. A lot of that is due to people’s focus on managing costs better,” Bliesner said. “Given the stock market issues and worries about heading into a recession, a lot of businesses are concerned about managing costs. One of the biggest costs that businesses have when it comes to IT is cloud spend.”

The company’s software provides businesses with the ability to connect, automate and manage new and existing cloud networks.

Cloud computing refers to storing data and programs on remote servers accessed through the internet.

Other participating investors in Vega Cloud’s recent funding round include Tacoma Ventures, Tapas Capital, the Seattle Alliance of Angels, Rudeen & Co., Kick Start and the Cowles Co., which also publishes The Spokesman-Review.

“Our firsthand experience with Vega and their multi-disciplinary team’s dedication to building efficiency and innovation around financial operations drove our decision to invest,” Kevin Barber, managing director of Sun Mountain Capital, said in a statement.

Bliesner co-founded Vega Cloud in April 2020. Prior to launching the business, Bliesner was co-founder of Liberty Lake-based cloud services company 2nd Watch, which raised more than $60 million from venture investors before it was acquired by Singapore-based ST Media in 2019.

In 2020, Vega Cloud raised $2.3 million in seed funding, which is an early-stage capital investment in startups.

Vega Cloud currently has 30 employees who work remotely and from the company’s Liberty Lake headquarters, Bliesner said.

Vega Cloud is looking to fill roles in product development, engineering, administration, and sales and marketing. The company also is partnering with Eastern Washington University to recruit computer and data science graduates.

“Our goal is to get to 50 or 60 folks by the end of next year,” Bliesner said.