Israeli startup Model9 Ltd., which sells cloud data management services for mainframe users, is hoping to gain a bit more traction after landing $9 million in an early-stage round of funding led by Intel Capital.

Stage One, North First Ventures and Glenrock Israel also participated in the Series A round, which brings Model9’s total amount raised to $13 million.

Model9 is targeting the surprising number of companies in the world that still use mainframe computers. Although mainframes date back to the 1950s, the stalwart machines provide more processing power than most other types of computers, including servers — and perhaps more important, they run critical software that nobody wants to mess with. Those those reasons they remain the workhorse of most financial institutions, banks, insurance firms and retailers.

The problem is that getting data out of the mainframe and moving it to the cloud or other on-premises systems for analytics is incredibly difficult, and that’s the challenge Model9 believes it can solve.

Model9 co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Gil Peleg told TechCrunch the company has developed technology that makes doing this a relatively simple task.

“Mainframe data is locked behind proprietary storage that is inaccessible to anything that’s happening in the evolving, fast-moving technology world in the cloud,” Peleg said. “And this is where we come in with patented technology that enables mainframes to read and write data directly to the cloud or any non-mainframe distributed storage system.”

The most obvious benefit for companies is that it enables them to apply modern analytics tools to their data, and glean insights they previously didn’t have access to. Another benefit is that data stored in the cloud can be used for disaster recovery purposes, instead of relying on expensive tape backups, Peleg said.

Model9’s software works with major cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and IBM. It’s also compatible with on-premises storage systems from companies including Dell-EMC, NetApp Inc. and Nutanix Inc.

Going forward, Model9’s plan is to expand its sales and marketing teams in order to try and grow the market for its technology, Peleg said.

Image: Model9