Cisco Investments backs startups pushing the boundaries of innovation in areas that matter to our customers. Each month, we spotlight how our portfolio companies are advancing the technologies shaping tomorrow’s enterprise.
New Investments
Maven AGI develops autonomous agents that understand natural language and carry out complex enterprise tasks. Their technology helps automate workflows, boost productivity, and reduce manual effort across business operations. Learn more about our investment in Maven AGI in our blog, “Shaping the Future of Customer Experience with Maven AGI.”
Qunnect builds quantum networking infrastructure that enables the transmission of quantum information over long distances. Their technology supports the development of scalable, secure quantum communication systems for future quantum internet applications. Learn more about our investment in Qunnect in our blog, “From Theory to Reality: Cisco Investments Backs the Future of Quantum Networking through Qunnect.”
Artificial Intelligence
DataRobot exposed the hidden costs of scaling agentic AI—highlighting how RAG-style retrieval, multi-agent orchestration, and memory handling can spike API, compute, and infrastructure expenses. They suggest embedding cost-awareness from development to production through systematic optimization, dynamic orchestration, and flexible AI gateways to keep scalability efficient and budget-friendly.
Cohere outlined five major obstacles—ranging from compliance risks to legacy-system integration—that manufacturers encounter when implementing AI in supply chains. They advocate deploying scalable language models alongside intelligent platforms to modernize operations and boost efficiency.
Fiddler was selected for the U.S. Department of Defense’s APFIT program, joining Domino Data Lab to scale AI infrastructure for Project AMMO and enhance automated threat detection.
Cloud and Data Center
Cohesity unveiled RecoveryAgent, an orchestration tool designed to automate clean application recovery across hybrid environments after cyberattacks or disruptions. They position it as a modern alternative to traditional disaster recovery approaches, using DevOps tools and infrastructure-as-code to restore systems from a last known good state with speed, security, and minimal downtime.
HYCU revealed early access to R-Cloud for iManage Cloud, a backup and recovery solution purpose-built to meet the needs of compliance-driven, knowledge-centric organizations. They equip customers with secure, customizable, off-site backup options that align with internal policies and regional data governance requirements.
Collaboration
Airtop cautioned against the growing trend of building massive AI workflows, warning that complexity, fragility, and technical debt quickly outweigh the initial appeal. They encourage teams to embrace modular, composable architectures that scale cleanly and empower faster iteration, easier debugging, and long-term sustainability.
Aisera was recognized as an Emerging Leader in Gartner’s 2025 Innovation Guide for Generative AI Technologies, highlighting its strengths in knowledge management and engineering. They underscore how their agentic AI platform delivers proactive answers, autonomous task execution, and enterprise-scale automation across IT, HR, and customer service.
Uniphore introduced AI-powered marketing agents that can instantly segment audiences, surface insights, generate reports, and drive campaigns—all through natural language. They empower marketers to bypass complex martech stacks and scaling hurdles by delivering enterprise-grade, composable agents that accelerate action without heavy reliance on engineering teams.
DevSecOps
Harness was named a Leader in Forrester’s Wave: DevOps Platforms, Q2 2025, earning top scores in AI infusion, deployment automation, and customer experience. They highlight how their AI-first platform eliminates developer toil, enables intelligent rollbacks and cloud cost optimization, and empowers DevOps teams with richer insights and faster delivery.
Networking
Aliro was featured on the Packet Pushers podcast during coverage of Cisco’s quantum networking prototype, where analyst Johna Till Johnson noted Aliro has “moved fast, farthest, and has the most up and running systems to talk about.”
Aviz co-hosted a hands-on bootcamp with Cisco to demonstrate how SONiC runs on Cisco 8000 platforms using the Aviz ONES stack. They showcased real-world use cases—including observability, orchestration, and AI-optimized networking—and provided practical guidance for scaling high-performance AI workloads across modern infrastructure teams.
Lightbits released version 3.15.1 of their software-defined storage platform, which adds API-driven KEK (Key Encryption Key) rotation, upgrades the etcd component, and enhances the LBCLI Ask AI assistant. They underline heightened security, boosted resiliency, and smarter operational capabilities to streamline cluster management and support mission-critical workloads.
Sustainability
DEScycle was featured as a case study in the Natural Environment Research Council’s 10-year framework for environmental research, reinforcing its role in shaping the UK’s future science agenda. They aim to accelerate solutions for biodiversity decline, climate change, and pollution by leveraging their deep-eutectic solvent technology to support whole-systems environmental policymaking.
Security
BigID was recognized in the 2025 Globee Awards for Disruptors in the Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity category, spotlighting their leadership in securing data for AI-driven environments. They emphasize how BigID Next, a cloud-native and AI-powered data security platform, enables organizations to detect, govern, and protect sensitive data at scale across complex hybrid and cloud environments.
Deepwatch explored how enterprise managed detection and response is evolving toward AI-driven innovation, deeper integrations with security platforms, and specialized services tailored to different industries. They emphasize around-the-clock AI-powered monitoring paired with expert human response and seamless integration with XDR/SIEM tools to help organizations anticipate threats and maintain resilience.
Orca Security released the 2025 State of Cloud Security report, uncovering real-world risks like neglected assets, secret exposure, AI-related vulnerabilities, and lateral attack paths across major cloud platforms. They recommend embracing AI-driven security by and for the cloud, unifying pre-deployment and runtime protection, and prioritizing high-value assets through attack-path analysis and runtime defenses.
Query advanced the shift toward Federated Security, enabling security teams to analyze and act on data without centralizing it. They empower both human analysts and AI systems to make faster decisions with broader visibility and reduced operational overhead.
SGNL debuted the MCP Gateway, a control plane for AI that delivers real-time, context-aware access control across enterprise interactions. They complement existing security architectures by incorporating identity, device, and request context to enable dynamic, zero-standing privilege enforcement throughout AI-driven workflows.
StrongDM published a guide outlining 15 Kubernetes security best practices for 2025, covering areas like RBAC, network policies, and secret management to reduce attack surface. They promote using zero-trust access, dynamic credentials, and centralized logging to simplify compliance, enhance security, and maintain control across complex cluster environments.
VISO TRUST rolled out real-time monitoring for third-party risk management, helping organizations continuously track and assess vendor and fourth-party risks. They enable teams to maintain a proactive security posture by delivering AI-driven insights and timely alerts that adapt seamlessly to evolving risk landscapes.