Alcion Launches AI-Driven Backup-as-a-Service Platform for Microsoft 365, Securing $8M in Seed Funding

WHO

Alcion, a modern data management startup, was founded by Niraj Tolia and Vaibhav Kamra, serial entrepreneurs with extensive expertise in data protection. The company aims to address the growing need for comprehensive backup solutions for Microsoft 365 users, offering an easy-to-use, intelligent, and secure Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.

WHAT

Alcion emerges from stealth mode and announces the public preview of its AI-driven BaaS platform for Microsoft 365. The platform provides Microsoft 365 administrators with a user-friendly solution to protect against ransomware, malware, corruption, and accidental data loss. Leveraging a modern and security-focused architecture, Alcion offers predictive Recovery Point Objective (RPO) reduction, integrated threat detection, automated responses, intelligent backup scheduling, and default delete protection.

WHY

As the amount of business-critical data stored in Microsoft 365 continues to increase, the platform becomes a prime target for both internal and external threats. While Microsoft ensures the reliability and availability of its infrastructure, it does not protect against cases of data loss resulting from cyberattacks or accidents. Traditional Microsoft 365 backup solutions often lack awareness of ongoing security threats and are reactive in nature. Alcion addresses these challenges by providing proactive threat detection, automated responses, and intelligent backup scheduling, offering a comprehensive and security-focused BaaS platform.

HOW IT WORKS

Alcion's BaaS platform is developed with a product-led and community-driven approach, building upon its open-source project Corso for Microsoft 365 backup. The platform offers easy-to-use backup and restore workflows, ensuring reliable and fault-tolerant backups. It supports XDR integration for proactive backups, includes ransomware detection, and enables intelligent backup scheduling to reduce Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

CUSTOMERS

Milestone Financial Engineering, a company in need of a user-friendly backup solution for Microsoft 365 data, found Alcion's simplicity to be a significant advantage. They were able to set up and back up all their data in under 10 minutes. KēSTA I.T., concerned about protecting critical business data from internal and external threats, leveraged Alcion's platform to safeguard their data from potential malware and ransomware attacks.

FUNDING

Alcion secured $8 million in seed funding from prominent angel investors, including Lip-Bu Tan (Chairman of Walden International and Intel Board Member), Abhinav Asthana (CEO and founder of Postman), Debanjan Saha (CEO of DataRobot), and Amarjit Gill (serial entrepreneur and investor at Nepenthe Capital). The funding will support Alcion's market entry, product development, community expansion, and go-to-market efforts.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Alcion, led by experienced founders, introduces an AI-driven Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform for Microsoft 365 users. With a focus on simplicity, intelligence, and security, Alcion's platform offers comprehensive data protection, proactive threat detection, automated responses, and intelligent backup scheduling. The company's seed funding of $8 million positions them to accelerate product development, expand their community, and bring their modern BaaS solution to the market.