Hystax

What Hystax does

Hystax is a privately held cloud infrastructure software company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It operates a dual-product portfolio built around two platforms: Hystax Acura, an enterprise cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup platform supporting any-to-any workload movement across VMware, OpenStack, KVM, Virtuozzo, oVirt, OpenNebula, KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, AWS, Azure, GCP, and Alibaba Cloud; and OptScale, an Apache 2.0 open-source FinOps and MLOps platform later extended with OptScale AI for enterprise AI governance.

Technically, Hystax Acura differentiates through a Direct2Target migration engine that operates without target-platform API dependencies, paired with agentless block-device replication, WAN-optimized compression, deduplication, low RPO/RTO recovery, and instant workload launch on target sites. OptScale ingests multi-cloud cost and usage telemetry to drive reservation recommendations, Kubernetes cost optimization, and MLOps profiling; OptScale AI (launched May 2026) adds an LLM gateway, guardrails, anomaly detection across AI agents, and analytics with sub-50ms routing latency and claimed up to 40% LLM spend reduction.

Commercially, the company runs a hybrid go-to-market: an enterprise field-sales motion targeting large IT estates (named customers include Airbus, Bentley, Nokia, DHL, PwC, T-Systems, and an unnamed global US payroll market leader for whom Hystax migrated 4,500+ VMware VMs to Red Hat OpenStack); an open-source self-serve funnel via GitHub; an MSP/CSP partner program for multi-tenant DR/backup resale; and content/webinar-driven demand generation. Revenue is generated through subscription software licenses, annual maintenance contracts, professional services for migration and implementation, and channel licensing — but no revenue figures are publicly disclosed. Leadership comprises co-founder and CEO Nick Smirnov and co-founder and CTO Max Bozhenko, and the company maintains memberships in the Linux Foundation and the OpenInfra Foundation.

Name

Hystax

Legal name

Hystax Inc.

Website

https://hystax.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Hystax provides enterprise cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup software (Hystax Acura) and an open-source FinOps/MLOps/AI governance platform (OptScale) for organizations running workloads across VMware, OpenStack, KVM, AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud Migration & Disaster Recovery Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Hybrid Cloud Compute & Virtualization Stack (HCI/VMs/Kubernetes) (HDABAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA), Compute Resource Management & Scheduling (Cluster/Workload Managers) (HDABADAK), MLOps/LLMOps & Model Lifecycle Management Services (BPAEAHAH)

Keywords

• Cloud workload migration
• Disaster recovery backup
• Cloud cost optimization
• FinOps platform
• AI governance software

Headquarters

HQ city

Sunnyvale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses: Perpetual or time-limited software licenses for Hystax Acura cloud migration and disaster recovery solutions, with license fees payable within 30 days of invoice
2. Maintenance and Support: Annual maintenance contracts providing software updates, enhancements, online support, and bug fixes
3. Professional Services: Consulting, implementation, and migration services including dedicated engineers for enterprise deployments
4. Channel Partner Licensing: Licensing arrangements with MSPs and CSPs for multi-tenant disaster recovery and backup offerings

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Hystax develops and sells Hystax Acura, an enterprise-grade cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup platform that supports any-to-any workload movement across VMware, OpenStack, KVM, KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba Cloud, Virtuozzo, oVirt, and OpenNebula. It also offers OptScale, an Apache 2.0 open-source FinOps and MLOps platform for multi-cloud cost optimization (AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba, Kubernetes), extended by OptScale AI for enterprise AI governance including LLM routing, security guardrails, analytics, and AI agent control.

Product overview

Hystax offers a dual-product portfolio consisting of Hystax Acura and OptScale. Hystax Acura is an enterprise cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup platform supporting any-to-any workload migration across VMware, OpenStack, KVM, Virtuozzo, oVirt, OpenNebula, KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, AWS, Azure, GCP, and Alibaba Cloud environments. OptScale is an open-source (Apache 2.0) FinOps, MLOps, and AI governance platform comprising OptScale FinOps for multi-cloud cost optimization, OptScale MLOps for ML/AI profiling and optimization, and OptScale AI for enterprise AI governance. The company provides professional certification programs (HCME and HCMA) and emphasizes solutions for organizations migrating from VMware to open infrastructure platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hystax Acura: Cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup software platform for enterprise-grade workload protection and any-to-any cloud migration.
• OptScale
• OptScale AI

Products and services

• Hystax Acura Enterprise-grade platform for cloud migration, disaster recovery, and backup that delivers fully automated any-to-any workload movement across VMware, OpenStack, KVM, KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba Cloud, Virtuozzo, oVirt, and OpenNebula, with agentless replication, low RPO/RTO, network traffic compression, and instant workload launch on the target site. Sold to enterprise IT and infrastructure teams responsible for migration projects and business continuity.
• Hystax Acura Disaster Recovery & Cloud Backup Disaster recovery and backup module of Hystax Acura that provides agentless replication, low RPO and RTO, and block-device data retention, replicating infrastructure settings including tenants, subnets, and flavors for OpenStack environments. Used by enterprises and service providers who require business-continuity-grade protection of virtualized and cloud workloads.
• OptScale Open-source (Apache 2.0) FinOps and MLOps platform distributed via GitHub that monitors and optimizes cloud expenses, performance, and operations across AWS, Azure, GCP, Alibaba Cloud, and Kubernetes through multi-cloud cost management, Kubernetes cost optimization, and ML/AI profiling and instrumentation. Targeted at FinOps, platform, and ML engineering teams seeking a self-hosted or cloud-managed cost-optimization stack.
• OptScale AI Enterprise AI governance platform built on OptScale that provides an AI Gateway for routing between local and public LLMs, Security & Guardrails (including content filtering and PII protection), Analytics & Tracing, and AI Agent Control with anomaly detection; available as a cloud SaaS or on-premises solution. Designed for organizations deploying LLM and AI agent workloads that need cost control, audit-ready logs, and operational governance.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 40% LLM cost reduction with OptScale AI
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• SelectelminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2026Russian data centre services provider Selectel and Hystax jointly launched a disaster recovery service built on the Hystax Acura platform. The service enables companies to establish dedicated storage on Selectel's cloud platform, allowing rapid restoration of IT systems and business applications in case of primary infrastructure failure.
• OpenInfra FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026Hystax joined the OpenInfra Foundation as a Supporting Organization to reinforce commitment to open infrastructure principles. Contributes experience in large-scale VMware-to-OpenStack migration projects to the broader open infrastructure ecosystem.
• Linux FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHystax is a member of the Linux Foundation, supporting open source infrastructure communities.
• MirantiscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHystax has delivered projects across OpenStack-based environments in collaboration with Mirantis, focused on enabling platform independence, reducing migration risk, and strengthening operational resilience.
• Red HatcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHystax collaborated with Red Hat on VMware-to-OpenStack migration projects, with Hystax featured on the official OpenStack website as a migration technology provider for organizations moving toward open infrastructure.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Druva: Druva delivers cloud-native backup, disaster recovery, and data protection delivered as SaaS, directly comparable to Hystax Acura's cloud-based DR/backup proposition for enterprise customers.
• Trilio: Trilio provides backup, disaster recovery, and migration for OpenStack and Kubernetes environments, directly overlapping with Hystax Acura's niche in open infrastructure data protection.
• Zerto: Zerto provides enterprise disaster recovery and cloud migration software for virtualized and hybrid environments, directly competing with Hystax Acura's DR/migration positioning, particularly for VMware-heavy estates.
• Spot.io (Flexera): Spot.io (now part of Flexera) provides cloud cost optimization, Reserved Instance/Savings Plan automation, and FinOps capabilities that directly overlap with OptScale's RI/SP optimization and cloud cost management features.
• Kubecost: Kubecost is an open-source Kubernetes cost monitoring and optimization platform (Apache 2.0) that competes directly with OptScale's Kubernetes cost management capabilities and open-source distribution model.
• N2WS (Veeam): N2WS (now part of Veeam) provides cloud-native backup and disaster recovery for AWS, Azure, and GCP workloads — directly comparable to Hystax Acura DR/backup for public cloud customers.
• Morpheus: Morpheus delivers hybrid cloud management and application migration orchestration across OpenStack, VMware, and public clouds, closely aligned with Hystax Acura's any-to-any migration positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Veeam: Veeam is a leading enterprise backup and disaster recovery vendor with broad virtualization and cloud support, competing head-on with Hystax Acura in DR/backup RFPs across hybrid environments.
• Apptio (Cloudability): Apptio, including the Cloudability FinOps product, is a market-leading cloud cost management and FinOps platform that competes directly with Hystax's OptScale FinOps offering.
• CloudHealth (VMware): CloudHealth by VMware is a longstanding FinOps and multi-cloud management platform that competes with OptScale for cloud cost visibility and optimization budgets at enterprise VMware shops.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hystaxcom
• GitHubgithub.com/hystax/optscale
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCP12kM-jeS2yMglN_dT44lA
• Facebookfacebook.com/hystax
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hystax

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hystax