The 10 Coolest Networking Startups Of 2014 (So Far)

Networking Newcomers To Watch

Software-defined networking continued to be the talk of the networking world in 2014, but other trends -- ranging from the Internet of Things (IoT) to network functions virtualization (NFV) -- also stepped into the spotlight.

Here are 10 networking startups that shook up the market, and its incumbents, so far in 2014.

Cumulus Networks

CEO: JR Rivers

Cumulus Networks has made big strides since emerging from stealth last year, striking up several new partnerships that will help drive adoption of its Linux-based networking operating system.

Founded in 2010 by former Cisco and VMware networking engineers, Cumulus is looking to take on networking giants like Cisco and Juniper with an open-source Linux-based networking OS that can run on commodity or "white-box" networking gear. It's a model that differs from market incumbents like Cisco, who tightly integrate their own hardware and software. In June, Cumulus said it plans to expand its channel program to work with partners in Japan and Australia, after introducing its North American channel program late last year. The company also inked a deal with Dell to resell Dell's Force 10 switches running its software. At VMware last August, Cumulus announced a partnership with VMware, integrating its software with the VMware NSX platform.

Jasper

CEO: Jahangir Mohammed

Jasper Technologies -- formerly known as Jasper Wireless -- may be a bit more established than some of the startups on this list (it was founded in 2004), but the Mountain View, Calif.-based company really stepped into the spotlight this year as the Internet of Things (IoT) market took off.

Jasper makes a cloud-based platform for IoT that helps companies integrate, automate and manage an entire fleet of connected devices. The platform, called the Jasper Connected Devices Cloud, gives organizations realtime visibility into their network of "smart" devices, along with other tools, such as a diagnostics and cost management system.

Jasper in February was chosen by AT&T to power its connected car platform, AT&T Drive. In April, the company announced a $50 million funding round led by global investment firm Temasek.

VeloCloud

CEO: Sanjay Uppal

VeloCloud is looking to "reinvent" traditional wide area networks (WANs) by leveraging cloud and virtualization -- a vision that helped it nab $21 million in investor funding this June.

According to VeloCloud, its cloud-based WAN architecture drives a cost reduction of between 60 percent and 85 percent compared to traditional WAN architectures, where services are delivered, piece-by-piece, on hardware appliances. The company was founded in 2012 by Ajit Mayya, the former Senior Director of Engineering at VMware; former Citrix Systems Vice President Sanjay Uppal; and Steve Woo, the former Senior Director of Product Management at Aerohive.

Big Switch Networks

CEO: Doug Murray

Big Switch Networks has been one of the more prominent startups in the SDN world for a couple of years now. But the Mountain View, Calif.-based company is reinventing itself under new CEO Doug Murray -- and is making big investments in the channel as part of that transformation.

To move forward with a new strategy it's dubbed "SDN 2.0," Big Switch last year abandoned the software overlay approach to SDN it had been touting all along to embrace instead a new approach that involves using bare-metal switches running its Big Switch's Switch Light software. As part of this shift, Big Switch said it will turn to the channel to help with the integration of its software. It's already taken steps to kick-start its channel strategy here in the U.S., signing on Synnex as its first distribution partner in January, and onboarding former Juniper executive Rajeev Gupta as its first global channel chief in April.

Viptela

CEO: Amir Khan

Another networking startup looking to shake up the way companies traditionally deploy wide area networks (WAN) is Viptela.

The San Jose, Calif.-based startup emerged from stealth in May, touting its Secure Extensible Network (SEN), a software-based solution that Viptela said is the first of its kind to integrate routing, network security and segmentation policy into a single solution. The idea, Viptela said, is that SEN eliminates the need for enterprises to acquire each of those capabilities through separate, single-point solutions.

SEN's IP fabric can be used on top of any underlying transport network, including MPLS, Broadband Internet, Metro-Ethernet or LTE, the company said.

Viptela in December closed a $33 million funding round from Sequoia Capital.

Altocloud

CEO: Barry O'Sullivan

Anybody who's ever sought help from a call or contact center knows that the experience can sometimes be, well, painful. But Barry O'Sullivan, a former Cisco executive, is looking to change all that through Altocloud, a new startup he launched this year.

The aim of Altocloud is to revolutionize the contact center experience through a cloud-based contextual communications platform. In an interview with CRN, O'Sullivan said the platform works by using realtime data analytics to track how customers interact with a business' website, mobile app or social media channels. The platform hands off that data to a business' contact center agents so they can create a more personalized and effective experience for that user.

Before Altocloud, O'Sullivan spent 10 years heading up Cisco's collaboration and unified communications (UC) business.

Davra Networks

CEO: Paul Glynn

Another startup targeting the burgeoning Internet of Things market is Davra Networks, a Dublin-based company that emerged from stealth in June.

But what sets Davra apart from a growing pool of startups looking to capitalize on IoT, is that Davra's IoT platform is purpose-built for IT solution providers and VARs. Called RuBAN, the platform turns the raw data being generated by connected "things" -- be it a car or an oil rig or any other Internet-connected object -- and presents that data in a way that's easy to visualize and consume. The idea of Ruban, according to Davra Networks CEO Paul Glynn, is to help solution providers build a managed services practice around IoT. The platform is already being used by major channel powerhouses like Presidio.

Insieme Networks

SVP: Soni Jiandani

One could argue that Insieme Networks, the Cisco SDN "spin-in" that was acquired in full by the networking giant early this year, isn't really a "startup" anymore. But, no matter how you categorize it -- startup, spin-in, Cisco's SDN business unit -- Insieme has sure captured the market's attention in 2014.

Led by Cisco Senior Vice President Soni Jiandani -- also the technical mastermind of Cisco's Unified Computing System (UCS) -- Insieme is the driving force behind Cisco's Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI). Unveiled in November, ACI is the heart of Cisco's long-awaited SDN strategy. The ACI architecture leverages a mix of merchant and custom ASICS, along with Cisco's new line of Nexus 9000 switches and its Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC). ACI goes head-to-head with competing SDN technologies, such as VMware NSX. The APIC hasn't shipped yet, but Cisco said it has 175 customers using the Nexus 9000.

CloudGenix

CEO: Kumar Ramachandran

CloudGenix emerged out of stealth this April, fresh off a $9 million round of funding. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, led by former Cisco executive Kumar Ramachandran, is looking to extend the benefits of SDN beyond the data center and into WANs with its Software-Defined Enterprise WAN (SDEwan) solution.

According to CloudGenix, IT can leverage its SDEwan solution to manage an enterprise WAN as a single, virtual pool of sources, while binding application and business policies dynamically to the network. CloudGenix already has some big customer wins, including Columbia Sportswear and the Coca-Cola Company. The company competes with fellow WAN virtualization startup Viptela.

Anuta Networks

CEO: Chandu Guntakala

Anuta Networks targets both enterprises and service providers with its network orchestration and virtualization solutions. Founded in 2010, Anuta's products include its nCloudx network services virtualization platform for simplifying and automating the lifecycle of network services in heterogeneous environments. The company's NCX platform, meanwhile, is a software solution designed to deliver network service orchestration for campus, branch and data center networks.

Anuta has been recognized several times this year for its innovations in network virtualization. The Milpitas, Calif.-based startup made Gartner's 2014 list of "Cool Vendors In Communications Service Provider Infrastructure" and also received the Best of Interop 2014 Finalist Award in Enterprise Networking.