Highway 9 Networks, Radical and Cape are among the companies aiming to change the networking game.

A cloud-native platform purpose-built for enterprise mobile users and devices driven by artificial intelligence. Solar-powered, autonomous aircraft taking telecommunications to the stratosphere. And a private mobile carrier with nationwide 5G and 4G coverage that promises to block hackers and spam.

Highway 9 Networks, Radical and Cape are just some of the startups featured on CRN’s 10 Hottest Networking Startups Of 2024 (So Far) list.

For this list, CRN looked at companies founded in 2017 or later that are innovating in the worlds of networking, connectivity and communications. These companies show that network technology advancement doesn’t only happen with the largest vendors.

[RELATED: 2024 Year In Review (So Far)]

Networks Startups 2024

In June, research firm IDC forecast that worldwide revenue for telecommunications and network APIs will reach $6.7 billion in 2028, representing a compound annual growth rate of 57.1 percent over the 2023 to 2028 forecast period.

Other entries in CRN’s Year So Far list include The 10 Hottest Cloud Computing Startups Of 2024 (So Far), The 10 Hottest Cloud Security Startup Companies Of 2024 (So Far) and The 10 Most Well-Funded AI Startups Of 2024 (So Far).

Read on for some of the hottest networking startups of 2024–so far.

Highway 9 Networks

Santa Clara, Calif.

CEO: Allwyn Sequeira

Highway 9 Networks offers a cloud-native platform purpose-built for enterprise mobile users, applications and AI-driven devices.

The startup’s edge product has distributed network functions with integration with enterprise IT and major telcos, according to Highway 9. Its mobile network features best-in-class radios, user mobile devices and AI-driven equipment. And partners can leverage Highway 9 to bring connectivity and private 5G to customers.

In February, Highway 9 launched from stealth and revealed that it raised $25 million in funding from Mayfield, General Catalyst and Detroit Ventures, according to a statement from the time.

CEO Sequeira founded Highway 9 in 2020, according to his LinkedIn account. His resume includes about 13 years with VMware, leaving the company with the title of senior vice president and general manager.

He came to VMware in 2008 with the acquisition of Blue Lane Technologies, where Sequeira worked for more than four years and served as CTO and senior vice president of products.

During his time at VMware, he “led the creation of HCX, the industry’s first hybrid cloud migration and inter-networking service between VMware, enterprises and public clouds like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and IBM and “led the creation of Telco Cloud Automation and Infrastructure, which was the world’s first platform integrating 5G Containerized Network Function, chosen by DISH as its 5G” platform, according to his LinkedIn account.

Radical

Seattle

CEO: James Thomas

The founders of startup Radical describe their solar-powered, autonomous aircraft as a new way to access connectivity by taking telecommunications to the stratosphere.

The Seattle-based startup’s aircraft can fly for months over targeted areas without landing, according to Radical. Users can receive continuous cell service with zero emissions and even collect high-resolution imagery.

In April, Radical revealed in a LinkedIn post that it raised a $4.5 million seed round of funding by Scout Ventures, Inflection and Y Combinator. The money will go toward technology development and hiring.

CEO Thomas co-founded Radical in 2022, according to his LinkedIn account. His resume includes about six years with Amazon, leaving with the title of senior research scientist for Prime Air.

Alkira

San Jose, Calif.

CEO: Amir Khan

Alkira is bringing on-demand network infrastructure to the world with a 100 percent channel go-to-market strategy.

The startup promises simpler delivery of a robust global network fabric for use cases including integration through extranet colocation-to-cloud and managing hybrid, single or multi-cloud setups.

In May, Alkira closed a $100 million Series C round of funding. In April, the startup expanded its cloud exchange point footprint to Google Cloud Platform and unveiled an integration with Zscaler.

CEO Khan co-founded Alkira with his brother, CTO Atif Khan, in 2018.

The brothers previously co-founded SD-WAN provider Viptela in 2012. Cisco bought Viptela in 2017 for $610 million.

Cape

Arlington, Va.

CEO: John Doyle

Cape bills itself as a private and secure mobile carrier with nationwide 5G and 4G coverage blocking hackers and spam.

The startup promises users that it won’t sell data and that it blocks phone numbers from transferring to other subscriber identity module cards.

Cape goes one layer deeper than VPNs and works with public, private and academic research institutions on robust cellular networks.

Cape partners with UScellular on physical infrastructure and runs its own mobile core. In April, Cape raised a $61 million round of financing from A*, Andreessen Horowitz, XYZ Ventures, ex/ante, Costanoa Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Forward Deployed VC and Karman Ventures.

CEO Doyle founded the company in 2022, according to his LinkedIn account. His resume includes about eight years with Palantir, serving as head of its national security business. Doyle also served in the U.S. Army for about five years, attaining the rank of Special Forces sergeant.

Aviz Networks

San Jose, Calif.

CEO: Vishal Shukla

Aviz Networks closed out 2023 with a $10 million round of funding and has been hard at work innovating its brand of open networking software for cloud-scale infrastructures.

In 2024, the startup introduced its One Data Lake, launched a generative AI conversational Network Copilot and upgraded its packet broker offerings for applications and 5G General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol (GTP) use cases, among other advancements.

CEO Shukla co-founded Aviz in 2022, according to his LinkedIn account. His resume includes about two years with MobileIron, serving as senior director of cloud engineering. Ivanti bought MobileIron in 2020.

He also worked at Nvidia for about three years, leaving in 2019 as director of product management and technical sales.

Aviz also has a partner program for resellers, distributors and other business types.

Nile

San Jose, Calif.

CEO: Pankaj Patel

Networking as a Service and AI networking are how Nile describe its brand of wired and wireless LAN offerings.

The startup promises users savings on total cost of ownership and fewer products and services needed for network connectivity and a lowered attack service compared with more fragmented setups.

Nile also automates workflows for design, installation, software maintenance and system care by leveraging AI, according to the company.

This year, Nile has improved its Wi-Fi roaming experience, launched new zero trust policies and introduced a full-fledged AI services platform with AI applications aimed at automating network design, configuration and management, among other advancements.

CEO Patel previously worked at Cisco for about 14 years, according to his LinkedIn account. He left the vendor with the title of executive vice president and chief development officer. Former Cisco CEO John Chambers co-founded Nile in 2018.

Nile also has a partner program for resellers, MSPs and other business models.

CesiumAstro

Austin, Texas

CEO: Shey Sabripour

CesiumAstro creates software-defined communications systems with modular hardware and software building blocks that provide complete mission-specific payload configurations.

Although the startup is focused on space communications and the defense industry, its products are useful for 5G deployments for ground and airborne applications, according to CesiumAstro. The new money will go toward core research and development, hiring, manufacturing and facilities expansion in the U.S. and abroad.

The company configures an offering based on users’ frequency, radio features and digital backend, according to CesiumAstro. It employs scalable active phased array systems and software-reconfigurable, credit card-size modules to get the job done.

In June, CesiumAstro closed a $65 million Series B+ round of funding with investors including Trousdale Ventures, Development Bank of Japan, Quanta Computer, Kleiner Perkins, Lavrock Ventures, L3Harris Technologies and InMotion Ventures.

CEO Sabripour founded the startup in 2017, according to his LinkedIn account.

Skylo Technologies

Mountain View, Calif.

CEO: Parth Trivedi

Non-terrestrial network (NTN) provider Skylo Technologies offers 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 17 satellite connectivity across sensor data and texting – with voice calls coming soon.

The company leverages partnerships with existing satellite providers, uses no extra hardware and focuses on a variety of industries from maritime to oil and gas and agriculture. Skylo’s over-the-air transmissions use Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption.

In February, the company conducted a successful send and receipt of native texting with its network from California to mobile phones in Australia, India, Finland and the U.S.

That same month, Skylo raised a $37 million round of funding from Intel Capital, Innovation Endeavors, BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst, Next47 and Seraphim Space. The company is using the money to hire, scale business operations to improve support for smartphones, wearables, IoT devices and mobile network operator users.

CEO Trivedi co-founded Skylo in 2017, according to his LinkedIn account.

The company has a partner program for testers, operators, OEMs and other business models. Skylo operates as a wholesale service provider to mobile carriers and their resellers, according to the company.

Gaiia

Montreal

CEO: Marc-André Campagna

An all-in-one platform for ISP billing, operations and automation is what Gaiia promises its customers.

The startup’s platform can automate shipments, account activation and other workflows, according to Gaiia. It can provide a white-label customer portal, reduce customer churn and help with property management and technician scheduling.

In July, Gaiia launched Open API, an API for operations support system and business support system use.

In June, Gaiia raised a $13.2 million Series A round of funding from Inovia Capital, GTMfund, General Advance, Manon Brouillette–ex-CEO of Videotron and Verizon Consumer Group–and YCombinator. The startup will use the funds toward growth in North America, Europe and Latin America.

The month before, the startup rolled out a mass communication feature for targeting bulk communications to specific customer cohorts, according to Gaiia.

CEO Campagna co-founded Gaiia in 2022, according to his LinkedIn account. He previously co-founded Oxio and led the company as CEO until its acquisition by Cogeco Connection.

Elisity

San Jose, Calif.

CEO: James Winebrenner

A better way to secure networks is the promise of IdentityGraph technology from Elisity.

The San Jose, Calif.-based startup leverages identity-based microsegmentation to enforce granular control over users and devices, allowing organizations to employ network segmentation to defend against threats and limit the blast radius, according to Elisity.

The company’s technology is aimed at the networks of clinical health care, industrial and commercial businesses.

In August, Elisity reported year-to-date growth of 214 percent year over year and that the company is on track for 260 percent full-year growth compared with 2023. In July, the company introduced local policy groups, enhanced role-based access control and asset locking in policy groups into its Cloud Control Center offering.

In April, Elisity raised a $37 million Series B round of funding from Insight Partners. The company said it will use the money toward AI capabilities to anticipate and pre-empt cyber threats.

Elisity was founded in 2018. CEO Winebrenner joined the company in 2020 after about a year with Aviatrix, according to his LinkedIn account. Elisity also has a partner program for solution providers, system integrators and other business types.