# Max Buchan, CEO of Valarian: BREAKING: Valarian raised $50m Series A

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scaling-europe-7780754/max-buchan-ceo-of-valarian-breaking-valarian-raised-50m-series-a
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/scaling-europe-7780754/max-buchan-ceo-of-valarian-breaking-valarian-raised-50m-series-a.md
Podcast: [Scaling Europe](https://stenobird.com/podcast/scaling-europe-7780754)
Published: 2026-07-14T07:21:30+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/scaling-europe/episodes/Max-Buchan--CEO-of-Valarian-BREAKING-Valarian-raised-50m-Series-A-e3m1ctr
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/108a8a74c/podcast/play/122777979/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-6-13%2F427880655-44100-2-43ac19e2017b.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/scaling-europe-7780754/episodes/max-buchan-ceo-of-valarian-breaking-valarian-raised-50m-series-a
Duration seconds: 1316

## Resource

Valarian has raised a $50m Series A led by NEA, just over a year after a $20m Seed. The company built Acra, an infrastructure layer that lets organizations run sensitive AI systems securely on any cloud, from public cloud to on-prem or the edge. Max Buchan is Founder and CEO of Valarian. The company signed $43m in contracts in its first quarter alone and expects to do about $100m this year. The Scaling Europe show is presented by Deel. Check them out here: https://get.deel.com/ruynb7o4lfjk Sponsors: Chargebee: https://www.chargebee.com/events/beelieve/london/2026 SurrealDB: https://surrealdb.com/ Airwallex: https://www.airwallex.com/uk?utm_source=other&utm_medium=partner_referral&utm_campaign=v01_emea_multi_ib_dg_prtmk_mofu_scalingeurope Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 0:16 - Valarian's $50m Series A led by NEA 2:06 - What Acra actually does 2:51 - Enterprise and defence customers 4:52 - Why sovereignty matters to customers 6:44 - Where the growth is coming from 7:49 - Inside the Series A round 9:37 - UK government support and new investors 11:38 - Plans for the next 6 to 12 months 16:09 - The biggest risk: hiring and execution 18:01 - Bringing on a new head of revenue

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