Expeto, Inc., which aims to simplify enterprise networking over private and public mobile networks, has announced a US$12 million (€11.43 million) Series B funding round. The news follows global deployments in support of mission-critical use cases where Expeto’s cloud-based NeXtworking platform aims to solve mobile complexity for enterprises by making any kind of mobile connectivity (CBRS, MNO-provided LTE, 5G, etc.) a part of a privately managed network.
The round was led by Sorenson Capital and included existing investors Evok Innovations, Lavrock Ventures and Mistral Venture Partners. Additional new investors included 5G Open Innovation Lab and Samsung Next. Expeto has raised over $20 million (€19.06 million) total financing to date and will use funds from the Series B to accelerate innovation and expand go-to-market programs.
Cellular in all flavours has the potential to power robust private wireless network use cases across industries. But end-to-end solutions targeting the enterprise tend to be limited by factors like connectivity type (e.g., CBRS-only), a certain wireless spectrum or a particular geographic area. IT teams that maintain these networks typically have to manage them separately from primary networks, relying on MNO support portals to request manual QoS or security changes and updates that can take weeks or longer to be addressed.
Expeto overcomes these market shortcomings by making it simple for enterprises to seamlessly extend private networks via any type of cellular connectivity with single-SIM mobility between public and private instances of the network. Rather than struggle to manage this mobile connectivity with legacy telco tools that require LTE/5G user expertise, enterprises get an IT-centric portal purpose-built for enterprise agility and speed.
“Expeto hides the complexity of mobile network management behind an easy interface and powerful routing platform that has been proven to help achieve ambitious mobile connectivity management goals in large-scale commercial deployments,” says Expeto CEO, Michael Anderson. “Our work with enterprises and MNOs is rooted in solving the challenges enterprises face expanding private networks with cellular connectivity and the role we can play in helping transform industries based on compelling new use cases.”
Mobile network operators work with Expeto to simplify delivery of public and private cellular networks. As an example, in its work with Rogers for Business in Canada, Expeto’s platform is an integral component of the company’s business class private network connectivity service. Expeto supports routing of connectivity into the enterprise and the Expeto management interface is provided by the operator to customers for real-time self-management. This solution is live, powering mission critical enterprise private wireless networks, including for Agnico Eagle, which operates Canada’s second-largest gold producing mine.
Expeto plans to improves the private wireless network experience with key features that include:
- One network to manage. IT teams manage mobile network connectivity as if it were part of their own networks.
- Public and private network mobility on a single SIM. Devices can move across network sites, even if supported by different types of connectivity (e.g., CBRS, 5G, Wi-Fi), while maintaining network privileges.
- Real-time device and network management. Sub-networks with different privileges or configurations can be created instantaneously and devices can be assigned to these networks with just a few clicks.
“Expeto was first to market with public and private networking on a single SIM and we see them with a considerable lead in this market,” says Burke Davis, partner at Sorenson Capital. “Further, the company is helping to put more control and choice in the hands of the enterprise which is a good thing for MNOs eager to advance and simplify how the mobile connectivity they offer can be integrated into private wireless networks. We look forward to working with Expeto as it pursues transformative outcomes for a range of large, complex industry use cases.”
“As an early investor in Expeto, we recognised its ability to elegantly address telco and enterprise requirements in one solution that could help telecom move beyond one-off deployments to drive real growth and revenue generation,” says Code Cubitt, managing director at Mistral Venture Partners. “We are doubling down on our initial investment following the company’s continued traction and momentum in this burgeoning market and are proud to be working with the Expeto team and play a role in its ongoing success.”
Expeto’s open and extensible NeXtworking Platform can be deployed for secure and scalable connectivity behind a corporate firewall, in a private or public cloud, at the edge or geographically remote sites depending on use case requirements. It supports creation of secure network segments, management of subscribers and network policies, and monitoring of network usage and performance. It enables enterprises to:
- Increase IT productivity with a single control plane to manage all networks on the platform.
- Use public mobile networks where possible to increase agility and reduce capital expenditures while ensuring secure routing, global data control and dynamic network segmentation.
- Deploy quickly with a standards-compliant mobile network corethat supports 3G, 4G and 5G standards in a fully containerised package.
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