Isilon co-founder Sujal Patel isn’t wasting much time taking on new roles. Patel, who announced late last month that he plans to step down from the storage company he created 12 years ago, has joined the board of Portland startup Elemental Technologies.
A previous angel investor in the company, Patel said he’s excited to lend a hand to Elemental, which helps companies deliver video across multiple screens.
Patel said he’s gotten to know Elemental CEO Sam Blackman over the past couple of years. He called the company a “really special business” and one that “has a lot of threads that pull on pieces of my background.”
Blackman noted that there are some interesting parallels between Elemental and Isilon, the latter of which started by selling to customers in the media arena.
“I think there is a great opportunity for Elemental to gradually expand its market beyond entertainment into these other verticals,” said Blackman. “And with Sujal’s help and guidance to do that effectively and cost efficiently is going to be a huge game changer for us.”
Elemental, which has raised a total of $29.6 million, including cash from Steamboat Ventures, Voyager Capital, General Catalyst and Norwest Venture Partners, employs just over 90 people.
Previously on GeekWire: Sujal Patel’s love letter to startups: 6 reasons why you should make the plunge
