Nile, a company that offers wired and wireless networking as a service to large corporate customers, has raised $175 million in a Series C funding round. Co-led by March Capital and Sanabil Investments, the funding will support the company’s go-to-market growth and workforce expansion. Nile’s approach is focused on simplicity, offering customers a pay-as-you-go service that eliminates the need for configuring networking devices and automates processes like software upgrades and security patches.
Pankaj Patel, the founder of Nile and a former executive VP at Cisco, believes that enterprise networks have become excessively complex over the years due to the continuous addition of functionalities by incumbents. Nile’s mission is to deliver enterprise-grade networks that are easy to deploy, scale, and maintain.
One of Nile’s key differentiators is its telemetry, which enables real-time network performance analysis using sensors and algorithms. The company’s cloud platform deploys software bots as needed to address any anomalies detected in the network.
Nile has gained traction among its customers, which include Stanford University, Pitney Bowes, and Carta. The company is now witnessing repeat deployment contracts worth $100,000 annually, a significant increase from a year ago.
The networking-as-a-service (NaaS) industry is experiencing growth, with more companies embracing the model post-pandemic. As organizations look to abstract away network infrastructure, security, and management, NaaS providers like Nile are gaining prominence. Gartner predicts that 15% of enterprises will adopt NaaS by the end of 2024, contributing to the potential growth of the NaaS market from $13.63 billion in 2022 to $155.17 billion by 2030.
Nile’s subscription-based model reduces the capital burden for organizations when purchasing a network, and it continuously modernizes the system to alleviate the burden of lifecycle management for IT teams. As the company secures additional funding, it aims to further streamline enterprise networks and expand its services in strategic markets.
