Networking startup Nile raises $175 million to challenge Cisco

Liberty Global

01/08/2023 13:00

By Krystal Hu
       Aug 1 (Reuters) - Nile, a networking startup co-founded
by former Cisco Systems executives John Chambers and Pankaj
Patel, has raised $175 million in a new round to fund its
efforts to build a Cisco competitor, the company said. 
    The new round, co-led by March Capital and Saudi Arabia's
sovereign wealth fund, Sanabil Investments, also attracted
corporate investors including the venture capital arms of Saudi
Telecom Company  7010.SE  and Liberty Global  LBTYA.O . 
    Nile, which has previously raised $125 million, did not
disclose its valuation, but said it had doubled since the last
round. Data from PitchBook pegged the company's valuation at
$395 million in 2020. 
    San Jose-based Nile provides network-as-a-service (NaaS)
solution focusing on secure wired and wireless products,
offering an alternative in building corporate Wi-Fi, which has
been dominated by players including Cisco, Juniper Networks
 JNPR.N , and Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Aruba Wireless.
    Since its technology became available last May, Nile has
signed customers such as Stanford University and startup Carta. 
    Pankaj Patel, chief executive at Nile, said the young
company can challenge the incumbents by offering ease of use at
lower cost and advanced security features in its network. 
    Nile’s services-only offering could save clients 30% to 50%
at each location, partly because it is a consumption-based
model, so users don't have to pay upfront fees on equipment or
spend on maintenance, Patel claims. 
    "We really equate this very much like a utility, that
customers are really looking for something which is invisible. 
That is the level of ease and reliability and simplicity that
people need and that is what we have done," Patel told Reuters.
    With 185 employees, the company now plans to expand its
sales and marketing team, targeting mid-sized enterprises from
500 to 5,000 employees.
    "I think the ambition is to be global and that's why you
have the kind of entities that have invested in this round as
good partners for the company's expansion plan," said Sumant
Mandal, managing partner at March Capital who led the
investment.

 (Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Nick Macfie)
 ((Krystal.Hu@thomsonreuters.com;))