CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Celona, the first dedicated networking platform provider bridging the divide between 5G and enterprise infrastructures, announced today that it has closed $10 million in Series A funding. The new investment will be used to accelerate the development of its end-to-end solution architecture and support initial customer deployments.

"Celona was founded on the principle that a modern technology stack powered by cloud software can in fact make cellular wireless accessible to enterprises," said Rajeev Shah, Celona CEO. "We will deliver a network service edge to ensure guaranteed service levels for business critical applications, and an AI-powered cloud platform to automate network operations. With Celona, enterprise IT and OT teams will be able to adopt a new generation of network dependent apps and take the initial steps in getting ready for the use of 5G within their organization."

Rise of 5G Wireless

Across industries, investments into digital transformation projects are poised to accelerate with the arrival of 5G. There is an increasing demand in the enterprise for the unprecedented wireless coverage and reliability that 5G delivers. Also leveraging today’s announcement for the initial commercial deployment (ICD) of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) frequency band in the United States as a catalyst, Celona will significantly simplify the adoption of cellular wireless by enterprises thanks to its end-to-end solution architecture powered by cloud software.

Celona’s integrated product offer prevents the need to purchase, install and operate multiple disparate products and enables the level of agility in innovation that enterprises demand. It also enables service providers to improve their enterprise friendly business and go to market models, and start planning a migration towards converged 5G wireless services at the edge.

"We're proud to back the Celona team, who bring exceptional experience with the right skills to lead the enterprise 5G networking space at such a pivotal time," said Matthew Howard, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners. "The combination of 5G and CBRS will create tremendous opportunity for innovation and Celona is uniquely positioned to guide IT organizations and service providers through this new era of digital transformation."

To enable the next-generation of edge compute and AI driven experiences in the enterprise, Celona’s unique IP lies in its ability to deliver wireless connectivity to apps that demand ultra-low latency communications and highest levels of availability. With CBRS, it is also now possible to enable dedicated clean spectrum usage within the enterprise boundaries further improving reliability metrics for wireless connectivity en route to deliver guaranteed service levels.

"Celona is at the forefront of the next generation wireless revolution. Looking forward, Celona’s AI-powered platform will enable all sorts of new enterprise applications," said Arif Janmohamed, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. "This incredibly talented team is rethinking the paradigm for how enterprise developers will work with the network."

Beta Program Kicks Off

During its journey to take enterprise wireless to where it has not yet been, Celona is looking forward to partnering with businesses, solution partners and service providers along the way. Visit Celona at celona.io to join the conversation by registering for its technology webinar series, or by submitting an application for Celona’s beta program to take an active part in the development of its technology.

Celona