UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

Form 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 20, 2013

VIOLIN MEMORY, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(650) 396-1500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

(d) On December 20, 2013, the Board of Directors of Violin Memory, Inc. (“Violin”) elected Cheemin Bo-Linn to serve as a member of the Board of Directors (the “Board”), effective as of December 20, 2013. The Board also appointed Dr. Bo-Linn to serve as the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board. Dr. Bo-Linn’s term on the Board will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in fiscal 2017. Dr. Bo-Linn has no direct or indirect material interest in any transaction or proposed transaction required to be reported under Item 404(a) of Regulation S-K or Item 5.02(d) of Form 8-K.

Cheemin Bo-Linn, Ed.D. is the President of Peritus Partners, an international consulting group focused on leading companies to the next level of growth and increasing business valuation. Previously, Dr. Bo-Linn has held executive management roles with NetLine Corporation and IBM Corporation. She presently serves as an advisory board member for SpeedTrack, Inc. and WITI (Women in Technology International) and has previously held board positions with the Association of Corporate Growth (ACG Silicon Valley) and the American Electronics Association.

It is contemplated that Violin and Dr. Bo-Linn will enter into the standard Violin Indemnification Agreement for directors. This agreement requires Violin, among other things, to indemnify its directors against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service. The agreement also requires Violin to advance all expenses incurred by the directors in investigating or defending any such action, suit or proceeding, subject to the terms contained in the agreement. The foregoing description is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the form of indemnification agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 10.01 to Violin’s Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 26, 2013 (the “Form S-1”) and is incorporated by reference herein. Upon joining the Board, Dr. Bo-Linn received an option to purchase 158,000 shares with an exercise price equal to the closing price of Violin’s common stock on the date of her appointment. This option was automatically granted to Dr. Bo-Linn in accordance with Violin’s 2012 Stock Incentive Plan, which was filed as Exhibit 10.03 to the Form S-1 and is incorporated by reference herein, and shall have the terms set forth in such Plan.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.