Latest news with #Tensor9
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amazon, Meta Veterans Raise $4M For Tensor9 Startup Backed By NVAngels That Redefines Enterprise AI Deployment
Seattle-based startup Tensor9 has raised a $4 million seed round to reshape how enterprise software, especially AI tools, is deployed inside high-security environments. The company is led by Michael Ten-Pow, a former Amazon Web Services engineer with over a decade of cloud infrastructure experience at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). Founded in 2023, Tensor9 has already attracted the attention of heavy-hitting investors. Wing VC led the round, joined by Level Up Ventures, Model Ventures' Devang Sachdev, and NVAngels, a group of ex-Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) professionals, according to GeekWire. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – According to TechCrunch, Tensor9 is focused on solving a growing problem: how to let vendors deliver advanced AI software to enterprise clients without forcing sensitive data out of its original environment. TechCrunch says that the company enables vendors to install their software directly into a client's existing tech infrastructure, whether it lives in the cloud, on-premise, or on bare metal servers. Instead of shipping data to a software-as-a-service platform, vendors can now deploy code inside a customer's walls, which is crucial for industries like finance, healthcare, and government. Tensor9 uses a digital twin architecture to make this possible. Each customer environment is mirrored through a virtual replica, which allows vendors to monitor, support, and update deployed software without breaching any privacy firewalls. Logs, metrics, and even hardware issues are fed back to this virtual twin in real time, GeekWire says. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — 'You can't just throw a piece of software over the wall, or it's very difficult to throw a piece of software over the wall, and know what's going on, be able to find issues, debug them, fix them,' Tensor9 CEO Ten-Pow told TechCrunch. 'They see it running, they can debug it, they can log in and understand what the issues are and fix them.' Tensor9 began as a bootstrapped project after Ten-Pow realized that System and Organization Controls 2 compliance wasn't the real obstacle stopping startups from closing enterprise deals. Instead, companies wanted software that could run locally, under their own control, with no risk to data sovereignty, TechCrunch reports. That insight became the foundation for Tensor9. In the same year the company launched, Ten-Pow brought on two former AWS colleagues, Matt Michie and Matt Shanker, as founding engineers, TechCrunch says. According to the company's website, Dan Armendariz, who also comes from Amazon, is a founding engineer as well. Shanker brings additional experience from Epic and Twitter, while chief engineer Matt Michie's background includes work at Amazon, Meta (NASDAQ:META), Uber (NYSE:UBER), and Twitter. Tensor9 is currently working with AI companies like 11x, Retell AI, and Dyna AI, which need to deliver privacy-preserving solutions to major clients in finance and data-heavy sectors, according to $4 million secured, Tensor9 plans to hire additional engineers and refine its platform for wider industry use, as detailed on the company's website. TechCrunch says that the team is already seeing interest beyond voice AI, branching into enterprise search, data management, and large-scale database software. 'We have a simple model but underneath the covers there's a lot of complexity that makes that happen, hard technical challenges that we've solved to make that happen,' Ten-Pow told TechCrunch. 'I think that was one of the things that helped us convince the investors to invest in us.' As data privacy rules tighten and AI adoption grows, startups like Tensor9 may be able to redefine how intelligent software reaches the enterprise. Their hybrid approach of marrying cloud-like control with on-prem security could be the model that finally unlocks enterprise AI at scale. Read Next: Invest where it hurts — and help millions heal:. 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Image: Shutterstock UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Amazon, Meta Veterans Raise $4M For Tensor9 Startup Backed By NVAngels That Redefines Enterprise AI Deployment originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Geek Wire
14-05-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
Amazon vets land $4M for Seattle data security startup Tensor9
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . From left: Tensor9 co-founders Michael Ten-Pow, Matt Michie, and Matt Shanker. (Tensor9 Photo) Tensor9, a Seattle-based security and privacy startup, announced a $4 million seed round. Founded in 2023 by veterans of Amazon, Meta, and Epic Games, the company helps software vendors deploy applications directly within customer cloud environments. The idea is to 'unlock' customers that deal with sensitive data and strict security policies. 'Public cloud enables simplicity, scalability, and efficiency, but also introduces security issues and data movement costs,' Tensor9 CEO Michael Ten-Pow wrote in a blog post. 'There is a clear trend towards a more hybrid model, where software runs where it needs to in the right environment. And that's the underlying premise of Tensor9: we help vendors ship software instead of requiring their customers to ship data.' Here's more about how the company's software works: How does Tensor9 make this happen? In a nutshell, a vendor points Tensor9 at their infrastructure as code (like Terraform or CloudFormation) and their app is deployed into different customer environments, with each customer getting their own private stack. Tensor9 continuously syncs updates to customer environments, ensuring consistency. A digital twin architecture mirrors the deployment and operational state of a customer's stack, which allows vendors to sync changes to ensure consistency across customers and environments, as well as sync logs, metrics, and hardware failures back to the digital twin – enabling vendors to observe, debug, and support customers as if they were using SaaS. Ten-Pow previously spent 13 years at Amazon, where he was an engineering working on AWS systems. Founding engineers Matt Michie and Matt Shanker also spent time at AWS. Investors in the seed round include Wing VC, Devang Sachdev and NVAngels, Level Up Ventures, and other individual backers.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tensor9 helps vendors deploy their software into any environment using digital twins
Enterprises want access to new software and AI tools but can't risk sending their sensitive data out to a third-party software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. Tensor9 looks to help software companies land more enterprise customers by helping them deploy their software directly into a customer's tech stack. Tensor9 converts a software vendor's code into the format needed to deploy into their customer's tech environment. Tensor9 then makes a digital twin of the deployed software, or a miniaturized model of the deployed software's infrastructure, so Tensor9's customers can monitor how the software is working in their customer's environment. Tensor9 can help companies deploy into any premise ranging from cloud to bare metal servers. Michael Ten-Pow, Tensor9's co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that Tensor9's ability to transfer software to any premise, and its use of digital twin technology to help with remote monitoring, helps Tensor9 stand out from other companies, like Octopus Deploy or Nuon, that also help companies deploy software into a customer's environment. "You can't just throw a piece of software over the wall, or it's very difficult to throw a piece of software over the wall, and know what's going on, be able to find issues, debug them, fix them," Ten-Pow (pictured above, left) said. "They see it running, they can debug it, they can log in and understand what the issues are and fix them." He said the timing is right for Tensor9's tech due to tailwinds from the rise of AI. Enterprises and financial institutions want to adopt AI tech, but can't risk sending their data to a third-party. "An enterprise search vendor might go to, let's say, J.P. Morgan and say, 'hey, I need access to all your six parabytes of data to build an intelligent search layer on top of it so that your internal employees can have a conversation with their company's data,' there's no way that's going to work," Ten-Pow said. Ten-Pow, an ex-engineer at AWS, said he had a "long, fairly winding path" to the launch of Tensor9. He got the idea for the company while working on another potential idea that didn't work out. He spent some time figuring out if he could find a way to make it easier for software vendors to get SOC 2 certified, a cybersecurity compliance framework, to help them unlock customers that required their vendors to have it. While that didn't work out, he discovered from customer calls that what enterprises really wanted was the software to just run in their own tech environment. But many software companies, especially startups, don't have the resources to offer a bespoke on-premise option for each enterprise customer. That sentiment became the basis for Tensor9 which Ten-Pow launched in 2024. Later in the year, he brought on two of his ex-AWS colleagues, Matthew Michie and Matthew Shanker, as co-founders. The company found early traction with voice AI companies. Since then, they've started to expand to work in other verticals including: enterprise search, enterprise databases and data management. The company currently works with AI companies including: 11x, Retell AI and Dyna AI, among others. Tensor9 bootstrapped for its first year and recently raised a $4 million seed round led by Wing VC with participation from Level Up Ventures, Devang Sachdev of Model Ventures, NVAngels, an angel group of ex-Nvidia employees, and other angel investors. Getting investors on board with the idea wasn't too challenging, Ten-Pow said, because the VCs they spoke with had seen their portfolio companies struggle with this exact problem. Tensor9 just had to convince investors that they were the right team for the job. "We have a simple model but underneath the covers there's a lot of complexity that makes that happen, hard technical challenges that we've solved to make that happen," Ten-Pow said. "I think that was one of the things that helped us convince the investors to invest in us." The company plans to use the funding for hiring and for building out the next generation of its technology so that it can work with customers in more verticals. "There's been an evolution from [on premise] to the cloud and we think that this idea of software lives where it needs to, and operates where it needs to, is that next step that's a sort of synthesis of the previous on-premise and cloud ideas," Ten-Pow said. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch at Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
14-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Tensor9 Raises $4M to Redefine Software Delivery into Enterprise Environments
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 2025-- Tensor9, the company behind a new enterprise any-prem platform that enables SaaS vendors to sell to enterprise customers, announced today that it has raised a $4 million seed round led by Wing VC, with participation from Devang Sachdev and NVAngels, Level Up Ventures, and strategic angels with backgrounds at Google ( Michael Stoppelman ), Cockroach Labs ( Spencer Kimball ), Benchling ( Amit Gupta ), and Amazon ( Gert Lanckriet ). Tensor9 enables SaaS and AI vendors to deliver their full-stack applications directly into customer-owned environments: whether cloud-prem (in the customer's cloud account), on-prem, or fully air-gapped. This unlocks high-security and regulated markets like healthcare, financial services, bioinformatics, and government, without burdening the vendor with complex bespoke engineering. The Tensor9 platform transforms modern SaaS applications so that vendors can deploy them into customer environments with a single command, while maintaining observability, updateability, and secure operations. At the heart of the system is a digital twin architecture that mirrors customer-owned infrastructure, allowing vendors to operate, troubleshoot, and iterate as if the software were running in their own cloud — even when it's not. 'Any-prem is becoming the new standard for enterprise software delivery,' said Michael Ten-Pow, co-founder and CEO of Tensor9. 'Just as SOC2 became table stakes for trust, enterprises are increasingly expecting software to run inside their own environment. We want to help vendors unlock new customers while focusing on their differentiated value.' Tensor9 was founded by a team of early AWS S3 engineers. The company has been working with vendors in devtools, enterprise databases and data management, AI applications processing sensitive data, and bioinformatics since launching early last year. Wing VC partner Chris Zeoli commented, 'Tensor9 is unlocking an entirely new route to market for enterprise software vendors. Their technology is deeply engineered and perfectly timed. Cloud-prem and Bring-Your-Own-Cloud is becoming a mission critical technology for AI, data and security vendors.' About Tensor9 Tensor9 is building infrastructure for the any-prem era — enabling software vendors to securely deliver their full stack into customer-owned environments. Founded by a team of early AWS S3 engineers in 2024 and headquartered in Seattle, the company is backed by Wing VC with participation from Devang Sachdev and NVAngels, Level Up Ventures, and strategic angels from Google, Amazon, Yelp, and Cockroach Labs. The company is also advised by engineering leaders from the early AWS team. View source version on CONTACT: Eryn Muetzel [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA WASHINGTON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: APPS/APPLICATIONS TECHNOLOGY SECURITY PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SOFTWARE INTERNET DATA ANALYTICS DATA MANAGEMENT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Tensor9 Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 05/14/2025 09:05 AM/DISC: 05/14/2025 09:04 AM
TechCrunch
14-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Tensor9 helps vendors deploy their software into any environment using digital twins
Enterprises want access to new software and AI tools but can't risk sending their sensitive data out to a third-party software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers. Tensor9 looks to help software companies land more enterprise customers by helping them deploy their software directly into a customer's tech stack. Tensor9 converts a software vendor's code into the format needed to deploy into their customer's tech environment. Tensor9 then makes a digital twin of the deployed software, or a miniaturized model of the deployed software's infrastructure, so Tensor9's customers can monitor how the software is working in their customer's environment. Tensor9 can help companies deploy into any premise ranging from cloud to bare metal servers. Michael Ten-Pow, Tensor9's co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that Tensor9's ability to transfer software to any premise, and its use of digital twin technology to help with remote monitoring, helps Tensor9 stand out from other companies, like Octopus Deploy or Nuon, that also help companies deploy software into a customer's environment. 'You can't just throw a piece of software over the wall, or it's very difficult to throw a piece of software over the wall, and know what's going on, be able to find issues, debug them, fix them,' Ten-Pow (pictured above, left) said. 'They see it running, they can debug it, they can log in and understand what the issues are and fix them.' He said the timing is right for Tensor9's tech due to tailwinds from the rise of AI. Enterprises and financial institutions want to adopt AI tech, but can't risk sending their data to a third-party. 'An enterprise search vendor might go to, let's say, J.P. Morgan and say, 'hey, I need access to all your six parabytes of data to build an intelligent search layer on top of it so that your internal employees can have a conversation with their company's data,' there's no way that's going to work,' Ten-Pow said. Ten-Pow, an ex-engineer at AWS, said he had a 'long, fairly winding path' to the launch of Tensor9. He got the idea for the company while working on another potential idea that didn't work out. He spent some time figuring out if he could find a way to make it easier for software vendors to get SOC 2 certified, a cybersecurity compliance framework, to help them unlock customers that required their vendors to have it. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW While that didn't work out, he discovered from customer calls that what enterprises really wanted was the software to just run in their own tech environment. But many software companies, especially startups, don't have the resources to offer a bespoke on-premise option for each enterprise customer. That sentiment became the basis for Tensor9 which Ten-Pow launched in 2024. Later in the year, he brought on two of his ex-AWS colleagues, Matthew Michie and Matthew Shanker, as co-founders. The company found early traction with voice AI companies. Since then, they've started to expand to work in other verticals including: enterprise search, enterprise databases and data management. The company currently works with AI companies including: 11x, Retell AI and Dyna AI, among others. Tensor9 bootstrapped for its first year and recently raised a $4 million seed round led by Wing VC with participation from Level Up Ventures, Devang Sachdev of Model Ventures, NVAngels, an angel group of ex-Nvidia employees, and other angel investors. Getting investors on board with the idea wasn't too challenging, Ten-Pow said, because the VCs they spoke with had seen their portfolio companies struggle with this exact problem. Tensor9 just had to convince investors that they were the right team for the job. 'We have a simple model but underneath the covers there's a lot of complexity that makes that happen, hard technical challenges that we've solved to make that happen,' Ten-Pow said. 'I think that was one of the things that helped us convince the investors to invest in us.' The company plans to use the funding for hiring and for building out the next generation of its technology so that it can work with customers in more verticals. 'There's been an evolution from [on premise] to the cloud and we think that this idea of software lives where it needs to, and operates where it needs to, is that next step that's a sort of synthesis of the previous on-premise and cloud ideas,' Ten-Pow said.
