# Alex Balkanski

> Alex Balkanski is a Series A investor at Picarro (Redwood City) backing Security and Software. See 5 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Picarro](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/picarro)
- Location: Redwood City, United States
- Total investments: 5
- Last investment: May 2021
- Lead investor: 40%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alex-balkanski/3/7b9/6a3

Alex Balkanski is a Series A investor at Picarro in Redwood City focused on Security and Software. Alex Balkanski has 2 current jobs as Board Member & CEO at Picarro and General Partner at Benchmark. Prior to joining Benchmark, Alex led C-Cube and DiviCom, two pioneering companies that drove the MPEG standard to dominance in consumer electronics and broadcasting. Alex founded C-Cube in 1988. In 1994, he took the company public, and in 1998he orchestrated C-Cube’s acquisition of DiviCom. By 2000, C-Cube was generating a half-billion dollars in annual revenue with 1,200 employees worldwide.Widely recognized as industry leaders, C-Cube and DiviCom were the recipients of several prestigious awards, including an Emmy - the first ever awarded to a semiconductor company. C-Cube was also voted the Most Respected Public Company as well as the Best Financially Managed Company by the Fabless Semiconductor Association.Alex serves on the Boards of Ambarella, D2S, Infinera (INFN), Mu Security, Newport Media, Picarro and Xoomsys. Previously he was a board member of Decru (acquired by Network Appliance), and Entrisphere (acquired by Ericsson).Alex holds a Ph.D. and a master's degree from Harvard University as well as a B.S. from Harvard College." (Source:

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Security | 1 | 20% |
| Software | 1 | 20% |
| E-Learning | 1 | 20% |
| Cyber Security | 1 | 20% |
| Higher Education | 1 | 20% |

10 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 2 | 40% |
| Seed | 1 | 20% |
| Series B | 1 | 20% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Engageli | Engageli operates as an inclusive digital learning platform optimized for student success and that delivers engaging teaching and learning experiences across a broad spectrum of needs for higher education. | $33M | Series A | May 11, 2021 |  |
| Engageli | Engageli operates as an inclusive digital learning platform optimized for student success and that delivers engaging teaching and learning experiences across a broad spectrum of needs for higher education. | $14.5M | Seed | Oct 14, 2020 |  |
| Robust Intelligence | Robust Intelligence safeguards enterprises from AI security vulnerabilities with an automated platform that detects and mitigates model threats. The company is trusted by innovators and it provides an end-to-end solution that features proprietary red teaming, threat intelligence, and guardrails for secure AI deployment in production. | $11M | Series A | Feb 01, 2020 |  |
| Decru | Decru, Inc. provides storage security solutions to enterprises and government organizations. It offers storage security solutions to address business requirements, including privacy, regulatory compliance, intellectual property protection, and internal controls. The company's DataFort storage security appliances enable organizations totransform their networked storage environments into a core protecting data from internal and external threats. It also provides a software recovery tool which allows an administrator to use UNIX or Windows workstation. The company's products are used in various applications, including storage consolidation, backup and DR, secure access controls, secure data hosting, secure email restores, and database security. Decru, Inc. offers its solutions to customers in financial services, health care, telecommunications, media, semiconductors, aerospace, manufacturing, and government sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. As of August 26, 2005, Decru, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of NetApp, Inc. |  | Series B | Feb 26, 2003 |  |
| Decru | Decru, Inc. provides storage security solutions to enterprises and government organizations. It offers storage security solutions to address business requirements, including privacy, regulatory compliance, intellectual property protection, and internal controls. The company's DataFort storage security appliances enable organizations totransform their networked storage environments into a core protecting data from internal and external threats. It also provides a software recovery tool which allows an administrator to use UNIX or Windows workstation. The company's products are used in various applications, including storage consolidation, backup and DR, secure access controls, secure data hosting, secure email restores, and database security. Decru, Inc. offers its solutions to customers in financial services, health care, telecommunications, media, semiconductors, aerospace, manufacturing, and government sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. As of August 26, 2005, Decru, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of NetApp, Inc. | $27M | Series B | Jul 31, 2002 |  |

5 of 5 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [BRM Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brm-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Emerge VC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/emerge-venture-lab) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Maveron](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/maveron) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Canon](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/canon) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Corner Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/corner-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Educapital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/educapital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Picarro

VC Fund · Santa Clara, United States

Picarro's singular mission is to produce the world's highest performance and easiest to use gas analyzers. Our analyzers serve a wide variety of markets including atmospheric science, greenhouse gas measurement, air quality, food safety, hydrology, biomaterials testing, ecology, environmental justice, semi-conductor, industrial processgas measurement, and landfill gas measurement. With ppt sensitivity to %-level measurements, months or years of calibration-free operation, and a quick and easy set-up, this incredibly rare combination of attributes enables our customers to make the highest quality measurements both in the modern lab and in the most remote locations imaginable.Every possible source of industrial and municipal emissions are subject to increasing regulation either for worker safety, to improve air quality, or as part of larger state, national and international greenhouse gas reduction strategies and protocols. Regardless of whether the customer is an expert scientist who values performance foremost, an engineer who demands quality and uptime from a solution, or a field technician who values simple installation and little maintenance, Picarro analyzers are the emerging standard.Based on technology originally licensed from Stanford University and further strengthened by 9 additional Picarro patents, our CRDS analyzers offer unprecedented sensitivity, selectivity and stability all in an elegantly simple, turnkey design. All Picarro products are produced through a world-class manufacturing process that ensures rock-solid reliability. Picarro is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

5 contacts available at Picarro.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Alex Balkanski | Board Member & CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alex-balkanski |
| Eric Crosson | Chief Technical Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eric-crosson |
| Jeff Heer | VP Manufacturing | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jeff-heer |
| John O’Hara Horsley | General Counsel | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-o%E2%80%99hara-horsley |
| Michael Woelk | President and CEO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/michael-woelk |

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## FAQ

### What does Alex Balkanski invest in?

Alex Balkanski invests primarily in Security, Software and E-Learning startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 5 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Alex Balkanski last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Alex Balkanski closed in May 2021. Shizune tracks 5 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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