Juniper Networks To Back AI Startup Recogni In $102M Funding Round

Ahead of being acquired by HPE, Juniper Networks is still heavily investing in AI. The company invested in AI upstart Recogni as part of its $102 million Series C funding round, the two companies said.

Juniper Networks, which is set to be bought by Hewlett Packard Enterprise by early 2025, has revealed this week that it has invested in artificial intelligence startup Recogni as part of a $102 million late-stage funding round, according to the two companies.

San Jose, Calif.-based Recogni said it will collaborate with networking specialist Juniper Networks to build an AI inference system that can be installed in server racks. Specifically, the partnership will have the two companies building inexpensive, scalable, and energy-efficient offerings for running complex AI models across cloud environments and data centers, which will rely on Recogni's patented AI inference accelerator technology.

Recogni’s $102 million Series C funding was co-led by Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures in February. Juniper Networks disclosed this week that it was part of the late-stage funding round.

[Related: Antonio Neri: HPE Is ‘Becoming A Networking Company At Its Core,’ Something ‘Cisco Has Forgotten’]

The collaboration between the two companies focuses on developing AI inference compute offerings for hyperscalers, service providers, and enterprises.

The startup's AI inference accelerator technology is set to go into production in 2026.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper Networks has long been focused on AI-powered networking as a way to stand out in the market. The company has been injecting artificial intelligence into more places throughout the network in recent years thanks to its leading Juniper Mist AI platform.

The $14 billion blockbuster HPE-Juniper deal, which was first announced in February, sets up a battle for networking dominance in the AI era between HPE Juniper and market leader Cisco Systems, the largest player in the networking market.

The merger has been approved by both HPE and Juniper board of directors as well as shareholders. HPE CEO Antonio Neri told CRN that the deal is set to close either the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025.