Altiostar Raises $114M Funding Round; Rakuten Joins as Investor

TEWKSBURY, Mass. -- Altiostar, the pioneer in open virtualized RAN (open vRAN) technology, announced today that it has closed a $114 million Series C round of financing with Rakuten coming on board as an investor. In early 2018, Qualcomm Ventures LLC and Tech Mahindra also participated in the C-round as investors. This financing will be used to expand Altiostar’s virtual RAN solution to encompass 4G and 5G products allowing telecom operators to build end-to-end web-scale cloud native networks.

Concurrently with this financing round, Altiostar has agreements solidifying its relationship with each of its strategic partners.

"Rakuten shares Altiostar’s vision of open, virtualized radio access networks: The Altiostar vRAN solution is one of the key enablers of the end-to-end cloud-native, software-defined network we will launch in Japan this year. Through our work with Altiostar, we aim to take the lead in driving RAN virtualization and disrupting the mobile industry," said Tareq Amin, CTO of Rakuten Mobile, Inc.

"Qualcomm Technologies is committed to not only developing 5G technologies to help create new experiences and transform businesses and industries, but also to investing in companies that align with our vision. Qualcomm Ventures’ investment in Altiostar reflects our confidence in the ability of disaggregated RAN and vRAN architectures to transform mobile networks. We look forward to collaborating on the development of new 5G product solutions," said Brian Modoff, executive vice president, strategy and M&A, Qualcomm Incorporated.

"Tech Mahindra’s network service portfolio includes all aspects of building, deploying and operating radio access networks. Tech Mahindra has extended its regional services capabilities and global reach through strategic acquisitions and has a truly global presence to help provide scale to emerging technologies like Altiostar’s open vRAN solution," said Manish Vyas, President, Communications, Media & Entertainment Business, & CEO, Network Services, Tech Mahindra.

Altiostar