Verkada
Company History
Verkada History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2016 in Menlo Park, California, United States
When was Verkada founded?
Verkada was founded in 2016 in Menlo Park, California, United States by Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren, making it 10 years old.
- Founded
- 2016
- Founding place
- Menlo Park, California, United States
- Founders
- Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren
- Headquarters today
- San Mateo, California, United States
- Milestones documented
- 9 (2016–2026)
- Current CEO
- Filip Kaliszan
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Verkada founded in San Mateo |
| 2018 | $15M Series A led by Next47 |
| 2019 | $40M Series B at a $540M valuation |
| 2020 | $80M Series C at a $1.6B valuation |
| 2021 | Customer camera breach |
| 2022 | $205M Series D at a $3.2B valuation |
| 2024 | FTC/DOJ settlement with $2.95M CAN-SPAM penalty |
| 2025 | Series E at $4.5B, then $5.8B CapitalG-led round |
| 2026 | Record sales update and NVIDIA partnership |
- Where was Verkada founded?
- Verkada was founded in Menlo Park, California, United States in 2016. wikidata.org
- Who founded Verkada?
- Verkada was founded by Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren.
- When did Verkada start?
- Verkada was founded in 2016.
- How old is Verkada?
- Verkada is 10 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Filip Kaliszan, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren studied computer science at Stanford, where they built CourseRank, a course-review site later acquired by Chegg. They teamed up with Hans Robertson, who had co-founded Meraki, the cloud-managed networking company Cisco bought in 2012, and founded Verkada in 2016. The idea was to apply cloud management to security cameras: record video on the camera and manage it through a web application instead of on-site recorders. One of its first notable customers was the fitness chain Equinox, which installed early Verkada cameras at one of its locations.
Founders
Filip Kaliszan
Filip Kaliszan co-founded Verkada in 2016 and has been its CEO since. Before Verkada he co-founded CourseRank, a Stanford course-review site later acquired by Chegg, with Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren. As CEO he has led the company's expansion to six product lines, the response to the 2021 breach and 2024 FTC/DOJ order, the 2025 funding rounds at $4.5 billion and $5.8 billion, and the 2026 NVIDIA partnership. Filip Kaliszan was born in 1989.
Hans Robertson
Hans Robertson co-founded Meraki, which Cisco acquired in 2012, and joined the three Stanford founders in starting Verkada in 2016, bringing experience in selling cloud-managed hardware to enterprise IT buyers. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Benjamin Bercovitz
Benjamin Bercovitz co-founded Verkada in 2016. An absolutely brilliant software engineer, he helped design the highly complex, incredibly secure cloud architecture required to instantly stream massive amounts of high-definition video from thousands of distributed cameras without crashing the corporate network. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
James Ren
James Ren co-founded Verkada in 2016. He played an absolutely critical role in building the early computer vision and machine learning algorithms that allowed Verkada's cameras to automatically detect specific people or vehicles, elevating the hardware from a simple recording device to a highly intelligent enterprise security system. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Verkada founded in San Mateo
Filip Kaliszan, Hans Robertson, Benjamin Bercovitz and James Ren found Verkada in San Mateo, California.
Source: prnewswire.com$15M Series A led by Next47
Raises a $15 million Series A led by Next47, with First Round Capital participating.
Source: prnewswire.com$40M Series B at a $540M valuation
Raises a $40 million Series B co-led by Meritech and Sequoia at a $540 million post-money valuation.
Source: prnewswire.com$80M Series C at a $1.6B valuation
Raises an $80 million Series C led by Felicis Ventures and announces entry into access control.
Source: techcrunch.comCustomer camera breach
Attackers use credentials for an internal support tool to view live feeds from customer cameras.
Source: justice.gov$205M Series D at a $3.2B valuation
Raises a $205 million Series D led by Linse Capital at a $3.2 billion valuation.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFTC/DOJ settlement with $2.95M CAN-SPAM penalty
Agrees to an FTC/DOJ settlement including a $2.95 million CAN-SPAM civil penalty and a mandated information security program.
Source: justice.govSeries E at $4.5B, then $5.8B CapitalG-led round
Raises a $200 million Series E led by General Catalyst at a $4.5 billion valuation (February); CapitalG leads an investment at $5.8 billion (December).
Source: cnbc.comRecord sales update and NVIDIA partnership
Reports 31,000+ customers and 30% fiscal-year revenue growth (March); NVIDIA invests and signs a technical partnership (July).
Source: prnewswire.comKeep researching Verkada
Verkada Company History FAQ
When, where, and by whom was Verkada founded?
Verkada was founded in 2016 in Menlo Park, California, by three Stanford computer science graduates—Filip Kaliszan, Benjamin Bercovitz, and James Ren—along with Meraki co-founder Hans Robertson.
What previous startup did the founders build while students at Stanford?
Filip Kaliszan, Benjamin Bercovitz, and James Ren built CourseRank, an innovative course-planning and review platform that was acquired by educational technology company Chegg in 2010.
How did Hans Robertson's experience at Meraki inspire Verkada?
Having co-founded cloud networking pioneer Meraki (acquired by Cisco for $1.2 billion in 2012), Hans Robertson recognized that enterprise physical security was ripe for the same cloud-managed transformation.
What technical breakthrough defined Verkada's early security cameras?
Verkada eliminated the need for complex, easily hacked on-site Network Video Recorders (NVRs) and servers by placing solid-state storage directly on each camera, streaming encrypted video to a central cloud dashboard called Command.
Who was Verkada's first notable commercial customer?
Luxury fitness chain Equinox was one of Verkada's earliest landmark customers, deploying the hybrid-cloud cameras across its clubs to eliminate server maintenance and streamline surveillance across multiple locations.
What occurred during the March 2021 security breach incident?
In March 2021, an international hacker collective accessed Verkada's internal super-admin support tool using exposed credentials, briefly viewing live video feeds from thousands of customer cameras before Verkada disabled the breach.
How did Verkada resolve regulatory scrutiny with the FTC and DOJ in 2024?
In 2024, Verkada resolved FTC inquiries by agreeing to a comprehensive third-party-audited information security program, paying a $2.95 million CAN-SPAM civil settlement, and implementing strict multi-factor authentication controls.
What was Verkada's Series D and Series E valuation trajectory?
Verkada raised a $205 million Series D at a $3.2 billion valuation in September 2022 led by Linse Capital, followed by a $200 million Series E led by General Catalyst in February 2025 at a $4.5 billion valuation.
What was the $5.8 billion valuation round in December 2025?
In December 2025, Alphabet's independent growth fund CapitalG led an investment round that valued Verkada at $5.8 billion, as the company surpassed $1 billion in annualized bookings.
What was the landmark NVIDIA strategic partnership announced in July 2026?
In July 2026, NVIDIA completed a strategic investment in Verkada and formed a technical partnership to integrate NVIDIA Cosmos visual models and Physical AI tools into Verkada's computer-vision video search.
How fast did Verkada's customer and device footprint expand by 2026?
By March 2026, Verkada served more than 31,000 enterprise customers with over 2 million devices active across 171 countries, maintaining a 30% annual revenue growth rate.
Where is Verkada headquartered today?
Verkada is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with major regional offices across Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Tokyo, and a regional hub in Dubai.
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