The surge in AI has inspired virtually everyone to start their own data center venture. However, establishing a data center is no simple task.

Even after overcoming the challenge of securing GPUs, network switches, and storage solutions, you must also ensure everything is adequately set up, operational, and able to meet the diverse requirements of customers. Preparing a data center to deliver cloud-computing services specifically for AI inference and training can require months of effort. Moreover, the longer it takes to enter the market, the greater the expenses incurred from having those valuable GPUs idle.

Netris, a network automation startup, asserts that it can eliminate this challenge for neoclouds. The firm offers software that operates on network switches and also provides a platform that connects to these switches, enabling neocloud operators to streamline the time it takes to become operational by automating setup, configuration, and management. This platform facilitates network abstraction, allowing for hardware configurations to be adjusted as needed, and it isolates servers and resources at the hardware level, enabling neoclouds to serve multiple clients (multi-tenancy).

If this appears to address a clear issue, you’re absolutely right. Until recently, data centers were predominantly within the realm of large infrastructure entities like Equinix, NTT, Digital Realty, Oracle, Microsoft, AWS, or Google. These companies effectively resolved network setup, configuration, and multi-tenancy for themselves by employing numerous engineers or developing automation in-house. Smaller neocloud enterprises seldom possess such resources.

“As an operator of GPU clusters, modifications must be made to every link daily. Traditional data centers utilized a method known as SDN [software-defined networking] for this, but SDN is inadequate because it is software-based,” stated Netris’ CEO Alex Saroyan to TechCrunch. “For AI, software alone is insufficient due to the high volume of traffic; everything necessitates hardware acceleration. Therefore, you require a solution akin to SDN, yet fully hardware accelerated. This is our expertise, and we have been engaged in this for eight years.”

Saroyan indicated that Netris’ platform is independent of vendors, compatible with networking hardware and standards employed in data centers, accommodating both Nvidia and AMD servers.

The ambitions of the startup have garnered substantial support, including accolades from Nvidia. Two years prior, the prominent chipmaker was so taken by a demonstration of Netris’ technology that it referred the company to several clients. Presently, Netris operates in over 35 GPU clusters globally (approximately a million GPUs), managed by entities such as Lightning AI, Foxconn, Visionbay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, TensorWave, Telus, and others.

To capitalize on this momentum, Netris has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round, as exclusively reported by TechCrunch.

Importantly, there is no AI involvement in this process. Saroyan explained that the company relies solely on previously developed algorithms for managing and configuring automation and operations.

“Our journey began long before AI. We recognized the challenges early on and started crafting this algorithm promptly. AI isn’t deterministic, right? Sometimes it operates independently. While it excels in creative endeavors, for adjusting thousands of switch configurations, creativity isn’t necessary. What you need is persistence and repeatability.”

a16z partner Guido Appenzeller is now joining the company’s board. Looking ahead, Netris intends to utilize this funding to recruit more engineers and sales personnel, expand support for additional hardware vendors, and enhance its algorithm’s functionality.