The company started focusing on the problem of securing virtualized environments in 2007. Initially, it developed web security products, but as server virtualization hit the enterprise, the company saw a bigger opportunity and shifted businesses. And now that opportunity has reached a point where Edmundo Costa, Catbird’s CEO, said he needed more capital to serve the customers interested in the company’s product.

As for the money, he accepted it from Manny Medina, the former CEO and founder at Terremark who has formed Medina Capital Partners to invest growth capital in enterprise IT companies. Terremark is the managed hosting and cloud services company that Verizon purchased for $1.4 billion in January 2011. This summer, Medina’s non-compete agreement with Verizon ended.

At that time he talked to his local paper, the Miami Herald, about his plans for his venture fund. From that story:

These are truly exciting times in the information technology industry. The revolution of moving from the era of “Industrialized IT” (owning your own hardware, etc.) to the new era of “Agile IT” (cloud computing, mobile, etc.) is creating fantastic opportunities. I have launched Medina Capital Partners in order to invest in companies in this field.

We are not geared for start-ups. We are looking for established companies with a unique business model or technology that we can help with capital and strategy. Besides capital, our vast experience in Terremark working across international borders, product lines, enterprises and government, could be very helpful for the right company at the right stage.

So far, Medina has put money in Catbird and lists a company called Prolexic, which prevents denial of service attacks, as another investment.

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