10 Hot Edge Computing Companies You Should Watch In 2021

The emerging market opportunity is seeing longtime tech and telecom giants, as well as freshly hatched startups throw their hats in the edge computing ring. Here are ten of the hottest companies specializing in edge computing that solution providers should keep an eye on.

Edging Out The Competition

The cloud model, which centralizes data and dominated the IT space for the last 15 years, is giving way to a more distributed model as applications, such as remote work, Internet of Things (IoT), and AR/VR grow like crazy. As a result, edge computing quickly became a hot IT trend in 2020 and heading into next year, enterprise spending on edge technologies and networking is expected to increase with gusto.

Longtime networking and telecom providers, such as Aruba Networks and AT&T, jumped into the edge game with wireless and connectivity solutions aimed at powering applications at the edge of the network. The emerging market opportunity also saw startups throw their hats in the ring with solutions geared toward extending compute, storage, and data analytics to new places, helping end users make sense of data coming in from new points on the network, or automating networking services.

From upstarts that just hit the market this year, to networking and telecom giants that have years of IT experience, here are ten of the hottest edge computing companies that solution providers should keep

Aarna Networks

Aarna Networks is a startup specializing in 5G and edge computing application automation software and is bringing its open source, vendor-agnostic solution to business users.

Specifically, the three-year-old newcomer is offering its Multi Cluster Orchestration Platform (AMCOP) for orchestration, lifecycle management, and real-time policy driven control loop automation of 5G network services and edge computing applications, including enterprise network-as-a-service solutions. The San Jose, Calif.-based company is channel-first and goes to market through VARs to connect to enterprise customers.

Affirmed Networks

Ten-year-old Affirmed Networks was scooped up by its partner Microsoft this year as the tech giant was attracted to Affirmed Networks‘ network virtualization software that empowers telecom operators deploying 5G networks.

The Acton, Mass.-based company, now a part of Microsoft, offers its Affirmed Cloud Edge (ACE) solution that helps service providers in their deployment of content delivery networks, AR and VR applications, autonomous vehicles, drones, IoT, and private networks for location-based services.

Aruba Networks

Aruba Networks, an HPE company that is very well-known for its wireless networking chops, has been prioritizing edge networking in recent years and is actively helping businesses handle the influx of data at the edge.

Aruba, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, in June introduced the AI-powered Aruba Edge Services Platform (ESP). The platform, said Aruba, can analyze data across domains and identify any issues or abnormalities and self-optimize, all before users notice any impact. The platform can also find and secure unknown devices on the network.

AT&T

While some may not think of a large telecom giant as a “hot” company to watch, AT&T has been aggressive in the edge computing space in the form of its Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) offering that ties together cellular network architecture for real-time, high-bandwidth, low-latency access to latency-dependent mobile applications.

The Dallas-based carrier is leveraging its expertise in connectivity by helping businesses harness LTE, and soon, 5G, at the network edge. AT&T is also working alongside its tech partners in the edge space. Microsoft Azure and AT&T this year unveiled a multiyear strategic alliance to leverage AI and 5G using AT&T’s network and the Azure cloud platform to market integrated solutions in areas including voice, collaboration, edge, IoT, public safety and cybersecurity. Microsoft is now AT&T’s preferred cloud provider for non-network applications.

Cato Networks

Cato Networks offers software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and security at the edge, a deviation from many of its competitors in the SD-WAN space. But unlike many of its competitors which have been scooped up by networking and security incumbents, Cato remains a standalone, self-proclaimed SASE provider.

Cato’s Edge SD-WAN device, Cato Socket, comes in two zero-touch models that can be up and running in minutes, while its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) converges the function of network and security point solutions into a unified cloud-native service. The Israel-based provider in August secured its largest round of financing yet of $77 million, bringing its total funding to date to more than $200 million. Cato said the funding followed a 220 percent increase in bookings and a very strong first quarter of 2020, despite global pressures, including the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Five-year old Cato Networks does all of its business through channel partners.

Celona

Celona is an enterprise 5G market newcomer that wants to make LTE and 5G a reliable, and viable wireless option for enterprise connectivity for the first time.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based startup burst onto the scene in 2020 with a platform that allows enterprises to create 5G/4G LTE private networks to power new applications. According to the company, this fills a major gap in the connectivity market.

Celona, which was founded by cloud software, Wi-Fi and cellular markets experts, also in November announced its channel program. Celona‘s goal is to eventually do the entirety of its business through solution provider partners.

Infiot

Infiot, an edge networking startup, emerged from stealth mode this year after being founded two years ago by networking and SD-WAN industry veterans. The company comes to market with a new approach to edge networking and connectivity at a time when demand for IoT applications and remote working is at an all-time high, the company told CRN.

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup in October announced $15 million in a Series A funding round backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Neotribe Ventures, Westwave Capital, and Harpoon Ventures. The company said its putting the funding toward building out its channel, Infiot‘s primary route to market, Infiot said.

Mutable

Mutable is a public edge cloud provider and is bringing its platform to the market that uses micro-data centers close to the end user to host edge applications on the Mutable distributed cloud.

Mutable, which got its start in 2013, is helping developers with its software-based platform deliver edge technology for low latency, heightened security and operational efficiency for application providers, cable operators and cloud providers. The company, which took its current form in 2017, is currently working with cable operators and other service providers to enable edge computing on their networks and offer applications to end customers.

The upstart in April secured a $1.6 million seed investment round in 2020.

Sierra Wireless

Sierra Wireless is a multinational wireless communications equipment designer and manufacturer that not only serves SMBs with its routers and gateways, but it‘s also offering next-generation and mobile computing services, including its edge to cloud offering. In fact, the company is in the middle of a multi-year shift towards a more IoT-focused business model.

Sierra‘s edge to cloud offering, Octave, lets users extract, orchestrate, and act on data from their industrial assets. The Richmond, British Columbia-based company’s shift to IoT software and managed services is thanks to its purchase of M2M Group, a series of companies focused on IoT connectivity.

Volta Networks

Five-year-old Volta Networks gets its name from the Italian word voltare, which means to turn. That‘s because the company believes now is the time to turn networks and rethink routing.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Volta comes to the market with its cloud-native routing engine that can reduce total cost of ownership by up to 90 percent compared to traditional legacy routers. The engine uses the cloud to optimize routing for low-cost, white-box switches, according to the company. Volta‘s engine is currently in active trials with several major telecom providers to power new use cases, such as AR/VR, IoT, drone technology, autonomous vehicles and cloud gaming.

Volta was founded by a former distinguished engineer at Juniper Networks, Dean Bogdanovic.