Edera: Revolutionizing Kubernetes and AI Security

A New Era in Container Security

Edera, a startup focused on enhancing the security of Kubernetes containers and AI workloads, has recently announced a successful $5 million seed funding round. This funding was led by 645 Ventures and Eniac Ventures. The company aims to simplify and improve security through a new hypervisor.

Kubernetes, which is now 10 years old, has made significant strides in container orchestration. However, Edera's founders—Ariadne Conill (distinguished engineer), Emily Long (CEO), and Alex Zenla (CTO)—believe that securing multi-tenancy workloads remains a critical challenge.

The Team Behind Edera

Emily Long, previously the COO at Chainguard and Anchore, brings a wealth of experience in operations and culture. Ariadne Conill, the creator of the security-focused Linux distribution Wolfi, has also maintained Alpine Linux. Both Conill and Long met while working at Chainguard.

Alex Zenla has an impressive background as an engineer at Radix and Google. With extensive experience in IoT and open source projects like Dart and Chromium, Zenla recognized the difficulties of hardware virtualization on edge devices.

The Challenge of Hardware Virtualization

“Hardware virtualization is often not available, both because the chips that run inside that hardware don’t have hardware virtualization at all, and because they might be disabled,” Zenla explained. “What I realized is there was no solution for this at the moment. There is no way to run an isolated container that didn’t sacrifice performance or require hardware virtualization."

Zenla's frustration with insecure systems led her to explore this issue further. She turned to Xen, the open-source hypervisor project that played a crucial role in the cloud computing revolution. Notably, Xen does not require hardware virtualization, as it was developed before that technology existed.

“What I’ve realized is that old technologies kind of get misunderstood or put to the wayside when the new thing comes along,” Zenla noted. “No one seems to look at that and go, ‘Hmm, what were the good ideas there? Or what are the challenges that we have today and if those good ideas can help with that?’ I think a lot of innovation comes from looking at the past and merging that with the current and new.”

Expanding the Vision

Initially focused on edge devices, Zenla later realized that her project could secure all cloud-native infrastructure, not just edge computing. This vision has now expanded to include protecting AI workloads running on GPUs.

“The original design goals for Kubernetes were for ‘soft’ multi-tenancy where there was a level of trust between users of a cluster. But as Kubernetes has found its way into more domains, the need for stronger security protections has become apparent,” said Joe Beda, an angel investor in Edera and co-creator of Kubernetes. “Edera fills this gap by using virtualization to both reduce risks and, ultimately, reduce costs. It allows Kubernetes to go places it has never gone before!”

Innovative Solutions for Container Security

Previous attempts to enhance container security, such as the Kata Containers project, have been criticized for being merely add-ons to existing solutions. In contrast, Edera's low-level hypervisor was designed with security as a primary focus from the outset.

“People try to solve this problem by adding ridiculous amounts of layers,” Zenla remarked. “You see that with tool layering in general. It seems like every major enterprise has like 30 different Kubernetes tools and Kubernetes security tools. We hear from people that they just spend all day looking at logs, and our idea is: What if we just fixed it?”

The Future of AI Workloads

For AI applications, the ability to virtualize and share GPUs is a significant advancement. Edera is also working on integrating confidential computing into its solution. The company is collaborating with design partners to test this innovative technology. With the recent funding announcement, Edera is opening its Kubernetes project to a broader audience.

Overcoming Challenges in Funding

Long shared that the all-female founding team felt a certain level of intimidation during the funding process. However, they discovered that many venture capitalists shared a passion for both the technology and the importance of diversity in tech. The real challenge, according to Long, was helping people understand the difference between typical Kubernetes security solutions, which focus on observability, monitoring, and alerting, and what Edera aims to achieve.

In addition to 645 Ventures and Eniac Ventures, other participants in this funding round include FPV Ventures, Generationship, Precursor Ventures, and Rosecliff Ventures. Angel investors such as Joe Beda, Filippo Valsorda, Mandy Andress, Jeff Behl, and Kleiner Perkins scout Nikitha Suryadevara also contributed.

Conclusion

Edera is poised to make a significant impact on the Kubernetes and AI landscape. By addressing the critical issue of security in multi-tenancy workloads, the company is not only enhancing the safety of cloud-native infrastructure but also paving the way for future innovations. As the tech world evolves, Edera's commitment to merging past insights with modern needs will be crucial in shaping the future of secure computing.

For more information on Edera and its innovative solutions, visit their website.