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World IP Day 2026 — Recognized Innovator

Maor Ben Dayan

  • Co-Founder & Chief Architect
  • WekaIO, Inc.

Recognized for co-founding WEKA and helping shape the distributed storage architecture behind its AI-native data platform.

His work supports the high-performance file systems and parallel I/O infrastructure used in large-scale GPU and AI workloads.

Certificate of Recognition

Top IP Innovator — AI Data Infrastructure & Distributed Storage · 2026

WEKA Patents (last 5 years)
0 +
First Filing
2016
USPTO Art Unit Focus
2162 / 2133 / 2114
Role
Co-Founder & Chief Architect
Presented by InspireIP

World IP Day Recognition Series · 2026

WEKA patents, last 5 years
0 +
Filed in 2025 alone
0 +
Recognition category
0 Comp Arch & Security
The Recognition

Designing the storage layer behind large-scale AI infrastructure

On World IP Day 2026, InspireIP recognizes Maor Ben Dayan, co-founder and chief architect of WEKA, for his technical leadership in AI data infrastructure and distributed storage.

The recognition is based on WEKA’s patent activity and public patent records. The portfolio covers distributed file system architectures, latency reduction in distributed storage, data protection across distributed platforms, and high-performance parallel I/O.

Maor holds a BS in Mathematics and Computer Science and an MBA from Tel Aviv University. Before co-founding WEKA in 2013 with Liran Zvibel and Omri Palmon, he served as project and team lead at IBM-XIV, developing future capabilities for the XIV storage platform.

All three came from the XIV Storage core team, giving WEKA a deep engineering foundation in enterprise storage. That foundation helped shape the WEKA Data Platform, built to reduce storage bottlenecks in AI, GPU, cloud, and high-performance computing environments.

Distributed File Systems
AI Data Infrastructure
NVMe Storage
GPU-Native Storage
Parallel I/O
Cloud & Hybrid Storage
Patent Footprint

A portfolio shaped around eliminating the storage bottleneck

2013–2016

Maor Ben Dayan, Liran Zvibel, and Omri Palmon co-found WekaIO in Tel Aviv. All three are former members of the XIV Storage core team acquired by IBM. The company raises $32 million in Series B funding and begins developing its distributed parallel file system, MatrixFS. WEKA's first patents arrive, covering latency reduction and data protection in distributed storage.

2017–2020

22 filings across 2020–2021. WEKA achieves the #1 position on the IO500 benchmark, outperforming the world's biggest supercomputer. The company partners with HPE, Intel, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center, raises a $75 million Series D and passes $100 million in funding. The USPTO issues multiple patents covering distributed storage architectures and NVMe-native file system designs.

2021–2023

55 patents across three years, peaking at 21 filings in both 2021 and 2023. Dan Warmenhoven, who built NetApp from a pre-IPO startup to a Fortune 500 company, joins the board. Over 300 of the world's largest AI and GPU deployments now run on the WEKA Data Platform.

2024–2025

34 more filings, with 18 in 2025 alone — the company's most active filing year. WEKA launches NeuralMesh, its next-generation AI infrastructure platform, and NeuralMesh Axon, a GPU-native storage fabric.

AI Data Infrastructure & Distributed Storage Sector

A small-entity company filing like a platform leader

WekaIO is classified by the USPTO as a Small Entity, yet its five-year filing volume of 90 patents sits well above what is typical for storage software companies of its size. Much of that activity is concentrated in the computer architecture and security art units that protect distributed file system designs, parallel I/O methods, and data management for GPU-accelerated workloads.

Patents, last 5 years
+
Peak year (2025)
+ Filings
USPTO entity status
Small Entity
Art unit focus
2162 / 2133 / 2114
"Leading an innovation program is harder than inventing on your own. It means choosing what to file, who to credit, and where to invest, over and over, for years. The leaders we recognize on World IP Day have done that consistently, and built something that compounds."

Sam Zellner

Founder, InspireIP · Inventor · Innovation Leader

About WEKA

Built in Tel Aviv, powering AI infrastructure worldwide

Co-founded in 2013 and headquartered in Campbell, California with R&D in Tel Aviv, WEKA is an AI-native data platform company whose software powers some of the largest GPU deployments in the world.

The WEKA Data Platform is a distributed, parallel file system optimized for NVMe flash, cloud environments, and GPU-accelerated workloads.

Its software helps reduce storage bottlenecks in AI training, inference, life sciences, financial services, autonomous vehicles, and government research.

WEKA has raised $372 million in total funding and reached a $1.6 billion valuation in 2024. The company serves large-scale AI and GPU infrastructure customers, including CoreWeave.

IP Day 2027

Know an IP innovator who deserves recognition?

Each year we recognize the inventors and IP leaders behind the portfolios that protect what their companies create. That includes founder-inventors whose contributions often go unmarked. Nominate someone for next year’s list.

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