Hybrid cloud storage provider Avere Systems has raised $20 million in a Series D funding round led by Western Digital Capital.

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Tenaya Capital also participated in the Series D funding round.

Avere has received $72 million in total investments to date, and the company said the Series D funds “will be used to accelerate sales, marketing and continued development of [its] hybrid cloud storage solutions.”

Enterprises can leverage Avere’s Edge-Core cloud storage architecture without having to rewrite existing applications, the company said.

Ron Bianchini, Avere’s CEO, noted he believes the Series D funds will allow his company to ensure its customers can use its hybrid cloud storage solutions for years to come.

“With this Series D funding round, we continue to scale the company so that we can provide the best solutions to customers embarking on their hybrid cloud path,” Bianchini said in a prepared statement.

Avere could benefit from growing interest in hybrid cloud computing as well.

An April 2014 poll of Talkin’ Cloud readers showed 87 percent of respondents said they expect more small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to adopt hybrid cloud solutions in 2014.

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