The 10 Coolest Networking Startups Of 2016

Networking Startups Commanding Interest

The networking startups that emerged in 2016 aren't focused on traditional routers and switches, but instead on disrupting the networking industry though solutions around data center automation, virtualized routers, intelligent switching and software-as-a service platforms.

These startups tore onto the scene this year, backed with funding from the likes of Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Google and the U.S. Department of Defense. Although some are being led by newcomers, the majority of the startups have top executives hailing from Cisco, Arista Networks and Juniper Networks. Several of these companies launched their first-ever partner programs this year, seeking forward-looking channel partners around software-defined WAN and SaaS.

Here are the 10 networking startups seeking to shake up the industry.

(For more of our 2016 retrospective, check out 'CRN's 2016 Tech Year In Review.')

128 Technology

CEO: Andy Ory

"The Internet is broken. We're here to fix it," is the motto for networking startup 128 Technology -- built by the former founders of Acme Packet.

The Burlington, Mass.-based startup's 128T Networking Platform is a software-based, distributed routing and network services solution sold as a monthly subscription. The company's platform uses secure routing to simplify network architectures and provides end-to-end control and visibility without disrupting a customer's existing network infrastructure. The 128T enables delivery of applications and services across multiple networks – including address domains, security zones, firewalls and private-public boundaries.

The startup targets cloud service providers, carriers and enterprises in both the data center and branch offices for its virtual router software, which works alongside legacy routers. 128 Technology has raised $36 million in funding from investors, led by G20 Ventures.

Apstra

CEO : Mansour Karam

The vendor-agnostic enterprise network startup launched out of stealth mode in June, hoping to automate data center operations. The Apstra Operating System (AOS) sits above existing hardware and software to create an abstraction layer that allows administrators to easily view the network, which is interoperable with devices from Cisco, Juniper Networks, HPE, Cumulus Networks and the Open Compute Project, to name a few. The Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup says its vision is to be the platform "every private cloud data center" in the world will use to automate all aspects of engineering and operate their network services.

CEO and co-founder Mansour Karam was a former top executive at Arista Networks and Big Switch Networks. The company's CTO and co-founder, Sasha Ratkovic, was a top engineer for the likes of Juniper and EMC, while its chief scientist and co-founder, David Cheriton, is a professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Stanford University. Cheriton also co-founded Arista Networks and is a former advisor to Google co-founder Larry Page and VMware CEO Diane Greene.

Barefoot Networks

CEO: Martin Izzard

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup unveiled its programmable switch platform in June – touting it as the world's fastest and most programmable series of switches. Barefoot's Tofino switch chip can fit inside hardware devices to direct the flow of data traffic across networks, and the company plans to advance SDN though its software suite of tools for programming Tofino. The startup also built a programming language, P4 -- Programming Protocol-Independent Packet Processors – to allow developers to differentiate their networks and solutions.

In November, Chinese web giants Alibaba and Tencent led a $23 million funding round for Barefoot. Since it emerged from stealth in June, the company has raised more than $150 million, backed by the likes of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Google and Goldman Sachs.

Cloud4Wi

CEO: Andrea Calcagno

Advanced guest Wi-Fi specialist Cloud4Wi wants to make solution providers profitable selling guest Wi-Fi and services, launching its first partner program in August. The San Francisco-based startup's flagship services platform, Volare, is purpose-built for advanced guest Wi-Fi capabilities. The over-the-top architecture leverages existing Wi-Fi networks to enable brands to standardize each customer's mobile experience across all locations, regardless of the underlying Wi-Fi. The Volare platform currently connects more than 45 million mobile users across 15,000 locations in more than 80 countries.

With nearly all its revenue coming through the channel, Cloud4Wi is seeking channel partners focused on large enterprise opportunities targeting large retailers, restaurant chains and shopping malls.

CloudGenix

CEO: Kumar Ramachandran

The SD-WAN startup's flagship Instant-On Networks (ION) family of products delivers an application-defined fabric that eliminates the need for hardware routers. In contrast to traditional hybrid-WAN alternatives, ION delivers the cloud without compromising remote offices or the need to rip and replace infrastructure.

CEO Ramachandran told CRN that CloudGenix is the only SD-WAN system that can run on an x86-based platform in the cloud or on premise. The company was founded in 2013 by former Cisco networking executives and emerged from stealth in 2014.

In August, CloudGenix launched its first global partner program, attracting dozens of Cisco channel partners, master agents and cloud application-focused solution providers through its approach to providing proof of concept systems (POCs), online tools and solutions.

Forward Networks

CEO : David Erickson

After three years of development, Forward Networks emerged from stealth in November, revealing that it had raised $12 million in funding backed by such investors as Andreessen Horowitz, SV Angel and A Capital. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup created an algorithm that allows customers to search, verify and predict network behavior by providing a software copy of their networks that organizations can use to run tests before implementing changes into production.

The software as-a-service-based platform includes three core capabilities: Search, Verify and Predict. The Forward Search creates an inventory of all potential routes to which data can be routed, while the Forward Verify application validates the network policy. The Forward Predict feature lets network engineers test a change to the network that they want to implement with the software copy.

Forward Networks was founded by four Ph.D researchers from Stanford University who focused on software-defined networking and OpenFlow.

Mist Systems

CEO: Sujai Hajela

Touting itself as delivering the world's first intelligent wireless network products that leverage machine learning, Mist Systems launched out of stealth mode in June with plans to disrupt the wireless enterprise market. In 2016, the Cupertino, Calif.-based startup unveiled its Mist platform, which uses machine learning technology to simplify Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) operations to minimize wireless costs and provide indoor location services to mobile users.

Mist was founded by CEO Hajela and CTO Bob Friday, both former top wireless executives with Cisco. Mist received $14.4 million in a Series A funding round and, in October, captured $28 million in a Series B funding round led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), Lightspeed and Cisco Investments.

Veriflow Systems

CEO: James Brear

The San Jose, Calif.-based startup emerged from stealth mode in April with $2.9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Science Foundation. Veriflow's CEO Brear told CRN earlier this year that its technology can proactively predict what's going to happen on a network before it actually happens by using a mathematical verification approach similar to how NASA's Curiosity rover is able to continue roaming Mars years after landing on the planet.

The network startup's software is offered as a service and applies principles it calls "formal verification" to discover ahead of time what could go wrong on a network, with a focus on high-level policy. Veriflow made its network verification platform generally available Nov. 15. In July, the company raised $8.2 million in a Series A funding round.

Versa Networks

CEO: Kelly Ahuja

The SD-WAN and SD-security startup recently appointed longtime Cisco veteran Kelly Ahuja as its new CEO, as well as another top Cisco leader, Pankaj Patel, to lead its board of directors. Ahuja had been senior vice president of Cisco's service provider business, while Patel was one of the networking giants longtime leading technologists.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based startup's flagship FlexVNF software includes a broad set of virtualized network and security functions with carrier-grade multitenancy, programmability, service elasticity and cost-effective deployment choices. Versa's other two primary solutions include Versa Director and Versa Analytics. The company was founded by former top engineers at Juniper Networks, brothers Kumar and Apurva Mehta, who built Juniper's highly successful MX Series of routers.

Viptela

CEO: Amir Khan

The SD-WAN startup unveiled its first partner program, vForce, in October which offers an assured margin program, a rapid on-boarding process, "partner success" funding and a "no direct sales" strategy.

The San Jose, Calif.-based network vendor provides SD-WAN technology that virtualizes WAN infrastructure, allowing customers to roll out voice, video and data applications faster using any edge access link across their extended infrastructures. Viptela's SD-WAN platform enables service providers and enterprises to build carrier-agnostic, policy-controlled and cost-effective WANs.

Since emerging from stealth in 2014, Viptela's solutions have been deployed at thousands of sites, as well as inside 25 enterprises within the Fortune 500, while carriers such as Verizon and Singtel are using Viptela to deliver managed SD-WAN services. In December, the startup announced a technology partnership with Amazon Web Services that allows customers to add AWS resources to their WANs.