Investment flows towards Nile to redefine enterprise networks

Networking specialist Nile has announced a $175m Series C investment round, bringing its total funding to $300m.

After emerging from what it called “stealth mode” less than a year ago, Nile offers network-as-a-service (NaaS) designed to deliver a more secure wired and wireless service through the extensive use of monitoring, analytics and automation.

The firm noted that in the era of rapid transformation, chief information officers and chief information security officers are increasingly concerned about the integrity of their business data and digital assets.

Built with what the company claims is a “steadfast commitment” to security, Nile’s service incorporates Universal Zero Trust Network Access (U-ZTNA) principles by design, and automates network access control mechanisms that traditionally required significant manual effort to provision and maintain.

This unwavering focus on security has enabled Nile to achieve top-tier certifications, including ISO 27001, SOC2 Type II and CSA Level 1, validating its position as a leader in network service delivery to enterprises.

The company has expanded beyond its launch territory of North America and into Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and claims to have seen increasing demand for its access network service from organisations including Stanford University, Carta and Pitney Bowes. Market presence has also been aided through collaborations with more than 100 channel and service provider partners.

The new round of financing has been co-led by March Capital and Sanabil Investments, with strategic participation from services by stc, Prosperity7 and Liberty Global Ventures, and contribution from 8VC, Geodesic Capital, FirstU Capital and Valor Equity Partners.

The financing will see use in furthering Nile’s mission to eliminate the operational complexities plaguing enterprise networks in their ability to support cloud-born enterprise IT offerings, without compromising zero-trust security. Nile believes innovation is “as swift at the enterprise edge as it is in the cloud”, and that the burden of high upfront capital expenditure-based consumption is eliminated, and the automation of all network services is enabled with data-centric, zero-touch orchestration.

“Nile is in a strong position to take advantage of several paradigm shifts occurring across the technology ecosystem,” said Nile CEO and founder Pankaj Patel. “Cloud-born edge infrastructure solutions are altering the way we engage with each other and interact with physical spaces in offices, schools and venues.

“AI is enabling data-driven decision-making to be adopted at a rapid pace,” he said. “Cloud migration strategies for anywhere access to enterprise apps is top of mind for all IT executives, creating a tremendous opportunity for Nile. These trends present unique challenges in the way enterprise infrastructure is consumed, and Nile is committed to addressing them head-on, making our service as agile and innovative as the technology solutions it enables.”

Sumant Mandal, co-founder of March Capital, added: “In just four years, Nile has engineered an entirely new connectivity experience through a ground-breaking approach that prioritises security and empowers IT to transform operations.

“Led by a team of seasoned industry veterans with extensive C-suite expertise and bolstered by a dedicated group of skilled engineers and architects, Nile is rapidly evolving into a market leader ushering in a new era in networking that promises unparalleled possibilities. We’re thrilled to deepen our support for Pankaj, John Chambers and their impressive bench of talent as they accelerate their momentum and continue to innovate the enterprise network at the forefront of the industry.”

Andrej Krevl, director of IT at Stanford, said: “Since the invention of the LAN [local area network] on our campus, we have taken pride in being at the forefront of new network innovations, and Nile has undoubtedly been a game-changer for us.

“After experiencing challenges with unreliable Wi-Fi, which interrupted classes, Zoom meetings and everyday work for our computer science department, we turned to Nile to upgrade our network with a simplified and secure solution. As a result, our IT team is once again able to drive department innovations and focus on providing uninterrupted network performance to our students and staff, without being burdened by basic network tasks.”