SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) vendor Versa Networks received an $84 million cash infusion as part of a Series D funding round led by Princeville Capital, RPS Ventures, and Sequoia Capital, among others. Versa has raised $196 million in venture capital since it was founded in 2012.

“SASE is the fastest growing category in networking and security, and the continued support from our investors is a testament to not only our innovative technology, but to our ethos as a company to deliver secure access and networking solutions to all organizations,” Versa CEO Kelly Ahuja said in a statement.

The Gartner-coined product category, which melds the security and networking worlds into a single cloud-delivered platform, has been a boon for Versa since it launched its SASE platform just over a year ago.

Earlier this year Versa CMO Mike Wood said changing workforce dynamics, including a rapid shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted adoption of the vendor’s SD-WAN and SASE products 100 fold.

With Gartner projecting the SASE market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 42%, Versa sees today’s funding round as an opportunity not only to double down on SASE research and development but explore new go-to-market strategies, expand its partner network, and address new market segments.

Versa has undergone a rapid transformation over the past year from a security-centric SD-WAN vendor to a full-fledged SASE provider. The company’s SASE includes SD-WAN, zero-trust network access, cloud access security broker, secure web gateway, and cloud-based firewall technology.

Versa also won high marks in a recent Gartner report that ranked SASE vendors by the completeness of their software stack. Versa’s SASE platform had 13 of the 15 required technologies, the report found.

The strength of Versa’s SASE has won the vendor a spate of service-provider contracts in recent months, the latest two being Verizon and Comcast Business, which both debuted full-managed SASE based on the platform.