Netris raises $15M Series A from a16z to help AI neoclouds go live faster

At a glance:

• Netris closed a $15 M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) to speed up AI neocloud deployments.
• The startup’s hardware‑accelerated networking platform automates setup and multi‑tenancy, now powering more than 35 GPU clusters worldwide (~1 M GPUs).
• Major customers such as Lightning AI, Foxconn, Visionbay, HPE, TensorWave and Telus rely on Netris for AI inference and training.

The neocloud challenge

Paragraph 1: The AI boom has spurred a surge in data‑center startups, but building a facility ready for AI workloads is far from trivial. Securing GPUs, switches and storage is only the first hurdle; configuring, testing and operating the environment for multiple customers can take months. Each delay means precious GPUs sit idle, inflating capital costs for neocloud operators.

Paragraph 2: Traditional hyperscalers like Equinix, NTT, Digital Realty, Oracle, Microsoft, AWS and Google have historically handled network automation in‑house, hiring teams of engineers or crafting custom tools. Small neocloud businesses rarely possess the same depth of resources, leaving them dependent on complex, often insufficient software‑defined networking (SDN) solutions.

Netris' hardware‑accelerated networking solution

Paragraph 1: Netris offers a dual‑layer approach: a software stack that runs directly on network switches and a management platform that abstracts hardware configurations. The platform provides network abstraction, allowing operators to change hardware settings on the fly, and isolates servers and resources at the hardware layer to support multi‑tenancy. This combination reduces time‑to‑live from months to days for AI inference and training workloads.

Paragraph 2: “As a GPU cluster operator, you need to make configuration changes to every link, every day. At traditional data centers, they were using something called SDN [software-defined networking] to do this, but SDN is falling short, because it’s a software technology,” CEO Alex Saroyan told TechCrunch. “For AI, software is not okay, because the amount of traffic is so high, everything must be hardware accelerated. This is what we do, and this is what we’ve been doing for eight years.”

Real‑world deployment and customer base

Paragraph 1: Netris claims production deployments in more than 35 GPU clusters around the globe, aggregating roughly one million GPUs. The customer list already includes Lightning AI, Foxconn, Visionbay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, TensorWave, Telus and a range of other operators. Nvidia’s early endorsement—following a compelling demo two years ago—has helped Netris win additional referrals.

Paragraph 2: The platform is vendor‑agnostic and works with both Nvidia and AMD server ecosystems, as well as standard data‑center networking equipment. By abstracting the underlying hardware, Netris can be re‑configured for new workloads without physical re‑cabling, a flexibility that has proven valuable for multi‑tenant neocloud providers.

Funding and strategic next steps

Paragraph 1: The round totals $15 million and was led by Andreessen Horowitz, the venture firm commonly known as a16z. Partner Guido Appenzeller is joining Netris's board as part of the deal. The capital will be used to expand engineering and sales teams, broaden hardware vendor support and further evolve the deterministic algorithm that powers the platform.

Paragraph 2: Looking ahead, Netris plans to enhance its automation capabilities beyond the current focus on switch configuration, aiming to cover storage and compute orchestration as well. The company also intends to deepen integration with major cloud providers and continue scaling its global footprint of GPU clusters.