Rakuten Symphony, the Open RAN-focused telecommunications vendor spin-out from Japanese online commerce giant Rakuten in 2021, is acquiring Silicon Valley-based cloud technology startup Robin.io for an undisclosed amount.
Cloud-native platform specialist Robin.io develops various hybrid cloud automation tools focusing on the Kubernetes system to run telecoms functions. It is not unknown to Symphony and its parent, Rakuten Mobile.
The Japanese 4G and 5G network operator has been using the cloud-native startup’s technology for a couple of years already and knows how it fits into and its role in virtualized mobile network environments. The company has over 70 patents to its name and has seen $84 million in venture capital investment – including $38m in Series C round in July 2021, led by Rakuten Capital.
“Edge cloud requirements are unique and critical as mobile operators transition to 5G; the next era of digital experience requires another level of performance, responsiveness and consistency that enables telecom operator and enterprise transformation to be safely accelerated while creating a platform to support the next ten years of experiences,” said Tareq Amin, CEO, Rakuten Symphony.
“Robin.io’s cloud capability is proven to be effective for the most demanding workloads in mobile, and we believe it will allow Rakuten Symphony to safely accelerate cloud-native transformation for our customers and prepare the industry for the future” added Tareq.
The acquisition to bolster next-gen services
Rakuten Symphony was established last year to bring all of Rakuten’s telecommunications-focused hardware, software, services, and research under a single roof. The brand is focused on the next generation of telecommunications networks based on cloud computing, open interfaces, and virtualized network functions.
Its initial products include Symware, a Xeon D-powered, fanless, weatherproof, modular RAN box, which is being offered as a service to telecommunications and IT companies – enabling many more organizations to build their own 4G or 5G networks quickly.
“We plan to continue to invest into Robin.io’s cloud-native portfolio of products to advance our capabilities further and offer the most advanced and highly integrated cloud platform mobile operators demand,” said Tareq.
