MadeiraCloud picks up $1.5M in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital for its visual cloud interface

MadeiraCloud has closed a Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital to build out its visual management platform for Amazon Web Services.

The startup’s product is a visual interface that sits on top of AWS  to provide administrators with a more intuitive way to track resources and applications. After launching in beta last June, MadeiraCloud now has over 3,000 users, which have a combined total of about $25 million in AWS resources across 85 countries. As part of Thursday’s funding announcement, the startup has added full support for AWS Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs).

The funds will be used to build out its headquarters in San Francisco, expand the startup’s development team and market the product. The money will also be put toward improved support for mobile and tablet users.

“People are sold on the cloud but overwhelmed by the sheer number of services, the many new terms and acronyms, and the resources and expertise required to get going with AWS,” Daniel O’Prey, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “By providing a simple, familiar, self-service interface we’re saving them significant time and money and enabling organizations of all sizes to make the transition smoothly.”

O’Prey said in an interview that MadeiraCloud could eventually bring its tool to other cloud platforms in the long term, potentially providing design templates that could be deployed to multiple clouds. For now, however, the company plans to keep its focus on AWS.

With VCs doling out money lately for enterprise cloud startups, such as Midokura, and Bitium, MadeiraCloud seems like a safe bet for Sequoia since it’s built for the current cloud leader and addresses a recognizable usability problem in the industry.

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