With today's announcement of a $48.5 million Series C funding round, Big Switch Networks is now looking at $94 million in total investments.

New and prior investors contributed to the hyperscale networking company's latest funding round, including early investor Morgenthaler Ventures — whose namesake partner Gary Morgenthaler is joining Big Switch's board of directors, along with NetApp CEO Dan Warmenhoven.

In addition to Morgenthaler Ventures and strategic partner Accton, the funding round includes Silver Lake, Triple Point Capital, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, CID Group, MSD Capital.

Big Switch CEO Doug Murray is confident that this cash influx has set the stage for a successful 2016.

"Networking is going through an incredible amount of change," he says. "There will be winners and losers, and our investors believe we'll stand as one of those winners."

This latest round is proof of the high aspirations, not just of the company, but of its leading investors as well. The risks associated with such a big investment put pressure on Big Switch to deliver, although just a few years since its inception, the company saw 300 percent growth year-over-year in 2015. Part of the growth could be attributed to its dive into open source and the upgrade of its most recognized product, Big Cloud Fabric. Murray believes that foothold isn't going anywhere, as the demand for Big Switch products and services has already reached beyond its current market share.

"We are at a point where there is demand in countries where we don't even have feet on the ground," says Murray. "This gives us an opportunity to accelerate the growth of the company and helps to drive us over time in profitability."

Beyond the scope of revenue and new business, today's announcement also means Big Switch can continue to grow internally, something it plans to do with the help of Warmenhoven. Murray points to NetApp's early growing pains and Warmenhoven's expertise in dealing with those, saying Warmenhoven can provide guidance on how best to enhance growth cycles and expand the Big Switch team.