The 10 coolest web startups of 2020

Changing the rules of the online market

It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a challenging year, forcing the IT industry to move forward at an unprecedented pace.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses around the world to close and forced most employees to work from home, which means that almost overnight, enterprise networks, which were originally mainly composed of traffic from corporate headquarters and branches, suddenly needed to switch to completely new traffic patterns and usage models.

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At the same time, edge networks are emerging. New use cases are emerging, with medical facilities and school facilities requiring connectivity between parking lots and retail stores, and restaurants requiring on-demand parking services, not to mention the full rise of the Internet of Things. These new demands have brought new opportunities to a host of network startups, which are beginning to emerge in the industry through multi-cloud network solutions, data center software products, network-as-a-service, and solutions that leverage cellular technologies (LTE and 5G).

Here’s a look at 10 of the hottest enterprise networking startups.

Alkira

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CEO: Amir Khan

Multi-cloud networking startup Alkira emerged from stealth mode in April with Cloud Services Exchange (CSX), a unified on-demand offering that lets customers pay for what they use and enables cloud architects and network engineers to build and deploy multi-cloud networks in minutes.

Alkira is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has received investments from Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins and GV (formerly Google Ventures). In August this year, Kleiner Perkins and Sequoia Capital led Alkira's Series A financing, and GV joined the subsequent round of financing, bringing Alkira's total financing amount to US$30 million.

Alkira said it will enter the market primarily through channel partners.

Apstra

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CEO: David Cheriton

Apstra is an intent-based networking startup founded six years ago whose platform simplifies data center network management such as network automation, troubleshooting and security.

Apstra, headquartered in Menlo Park, California, launched its first formal partner program in March: the Apstra Partner Advantage Program, which allows partners to collaborate and grow with Apstra, targeting system integrators and resellers who are looking for differentiated data center network automation solutions that are well compatible with third-party network products.

Celona

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CEO: Rajeev Shah

Celona, ​​an enterprise 5G startup, just came out of stealth mode in November this year. Celona's platform makes LTE and 5G a reliable and viable wireless option for enterprise connectivity. Celona said that the first generation of Celona platform will support the creation of 4G/LTE private networks, and plans to launch the 5G platform in the second half of 2021 as more 5G-enabled devices are put on the market.

Celona, ​​headquartered in Cupertino, California, USA, was founded a year ago by several former Qualcomm and Cisco employees who have extensive development experience in products such as chipsets, cloud software, Wi-Fi and cellular solutions.

Celona plans to conduct all of its business through this channel.

EdgeQ

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CEO: Vinay Ravuri

EdgeQ is a company that calls itself a 5G system-on-chip and just came out of stealth mode in November, planning to bring AI to the edge of the network through 5G. EdgeQ's platform will target specific verticals, including manufacturing, construction, energy, automotive, warehousing and surveillance.

EdgeQ is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with 90 employees. It was founded by former semiconductor, 5G, Wi-Fi and AI industry veterans from Qualcomm, Intel and Broadcom. EdgeQ just announced in November that it had received $51 million in financing.

For2Fi

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CEO: Andrew Gregoire

For2Fi was founded just this year. Andrew Gregorire, co-founder, CEO and former MSP founder, keenly saw the market gap in commercial LTE solutions.

For2Fi, headquartered in Fall River, Massachusetts, plans to introduce wireless LTE products to this market. For2Fi's high-speed wireless service is ideal for remote businesses that need immediate access. After Category 4 Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana in August this year, For2Fi worked with solution provider Last Mile Strategies to help local businesses quickly restore network connectivity.

For2Fi said it will enter the market entirely through channels.

Geoverse

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CEO: Rod Nelson

Next-generation connectivity provider Geoverse has been designing, deploying, and operating private LTE networks for enterprise customers since 2017. Geoverse’s 5G/LTE private wireless network offering allows users and devices to roam seamlessly and securely across public carrier networks.

Geoverse, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, USA, appointed Bob Gault as the company's chief business officer in November this year. He is responsible for Geoverse's sales and marketing and was formerly the chief revenue officer of Extreme Networks.

PacketFabric

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CEO: Dave Ward

PacketFabric was founded three years ago and focuses on providing a "network as a service" platform for scalable private connections. PacketFabric said in January this year that its managed cloud connection platform can provide greater capacity, lower monthly recurring costs, and support for AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform and Oracle Cloud. In April this year, Dave Ward, former Cisco engineering director and chief architect, joined PacketFabric as CEO.

PacketFabric, based in Culver City, California, partnered with Cloudflare in August to launch Cloudflare Network Interconnect, which the two companies said would bring full network capabilities to the edge of the physical network.

Stateless

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CEO: Murad Kablan

Networking startup Stateless has brought to market an enterprise software platform with virtualized network functions such as firewalls and load balancers that can be provided to customers as a service.

Stateless, a three-year-old venture-backed company, recently launched Luxon, a Centric Networking technology solution that allows companies to complete complex marketing tasks without having to buy expensive network hardware.

Teridion

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CEO: Yaron Ravkaie

Cloud WAN startup Teridion offers a public cloud WAN service that provides global coverage, unlimited bandwidth, and horizontal expansion. The San Jose, California-based company said the Teridion network is based on Teridion Curated Routing technology, which connects WAN acceleration technology with metric-driven route optimization. Teridion's flagship platform, Teridion for Enterprise, can be integrated with third-party SD-WAN solutions.

Founded in 2014, Teridion announced in January that Ravkaie would take over as CEO from Sae Gillai, a former HPE executive who had run Teridion since 2017.

Uplevel Systems

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CEO: Tom Alexander

Uplevel Systems is five years old. The company says it offers a simplified approach to IT management services for small businesses that can be delivered through MSP partners. Today, Uplevel's solutions include firewalls, IPS, secure DNS, VPNs, and a variety of other products.

In August this year, Uplevel Systems launched the Equipment Purchase Program, a new purchasing model that allows MSPs to provide end customers with more expanded IT options in the form of pre-purchase options. Uplevel said that this new program provides a way for companies with dispersed offices or remote employees to purchase urgently needed IT products, including pre-purchasing hardware or monthly subscriptions.