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Cumulus Networks funding, valuation and investors
Linux-based open networking OS for data center switches (acquired by NVIDIA, 2020).
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series A
$40M · 2013
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$40M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
acquired
acquired · Mountain View, California
Overview
Cumulus Networks developed Cumulus Linux, an open networking operating system running on commodity data center switches — bringing the Linux/DevOps model to network infrastructure. a16z led seed and Series A; Sequoia participated. NVIDIA acquired Cumulus in May 2020, days after closing the Mellanox acquisition.
Why Cumulus Networks is interesting
Cumulus brought the Linux model to switches — a16z seed and Series A lead before NVIDIA acquired it days after closing Mellanox in 2020.
Product & use cases
Cumulus Linux ran on bare-metal switches — replacing proprietary network OS with Linux-based automation via Ansible and BGP.
- Hyperscale data center leaf-spine on commodity hardware
- DevOps-style network automation
- Open networking avoiding vendor lock-in
Key facts
- Acquired by NVIDIA (May 2020) (TechCrunch)
- a16z seed and Series A lead; ~$134M raised total
Funding history (newest first)
Series A
2013 $40MSource: https://a16z.com/bringing-the-linux-revolution-to-networking/
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Cumulus Networks's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: First widely adopted Linux network OS — decoupled hardware from software.
Open networking succeeded in hyperscale. NVIDIA folded Cumulus into Mellanox stack.
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Arista EOS incumbent
Proprietary but highly adopted.
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SONiC direct
Microsoft open network OS.
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Cisco NX-OS incumbent
Dominant enterprise switching.
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Juniper incumbent
Traditional networking vendor.
Notable stories
- NVIDIA acquired Cumulus days after closing Mellanox (TechCrunch, May 2020).
Industries
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FAQs about Cumulus Networks
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