“The strategic investment made by Summit Partners was a resounding validation of our vision, technological expertise, and capability to service this market. The support we received helped us capitalize on a tremendous market opportunity and positioned us for long-term growth.”
Patrick Ostiguy, President and CEO
Location:
Montreal, Canada
Leadership:
Patrick Ostiguy
Founded in:
2004
invested in:
2010
Status:
Acquired by Bridge Growth Partners 2017
Case Study:
Accedian Networks
Leader in Performance Assured Networking for mobile networks and enterprise-to-data center connectivity
Grew headcount to 250 employees, up from 47 at the time of Summit’s investment
Doubled customer count to more than 300 customers in over 60 countries
Expanded product portfolio and grew revenues by nearly 3x
Completed a majority sale to Bridge Growth Partners in 2017
Accedian Networks was founded in 2005 with a focus on delivering real-time end-to-end network visibility and optimization solutions to help carriers and service providers alleviate performance issues resulting from ever-increasing traffic on wireless and enterprise networks. As carriers competed to attract and retain their customers, many – including T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and AT&T – turned to Accedian’s performance assurance solutions to dramatically improve the end-user experience. Accedian’s management team sought an experienced equity partner to help manage this rapid growth, strengthen the balance sheet and penetrate new Tier-1 customers. Summit’s deep experience in communications technology – including prior investments in Actix, Commnet Wireless and Ubiquiti Networks – helped us to build a strong relationship with management, and Accedian elected to partner with Summit in 2010.
How Summit helped:
- Led a minority investment in 2010 to accelerate Accedian’s commercial efforts and support its continuing global market share expansion
- Worked closely with Accedian to scale the sales organization and transition to a direct sales model, growing the quota-carrying team from five to more than 30 individuals
- Helped the company build its Board of Directors, recruiting industry veteran George Riedel (formerly of Nortel Networks and Juniper Networks) as Chairman and introducing Paul Milbury (former CFO of Starent Networks and Avid Technology) who became chair of the company’s Audit committee
- Provided strategic support as the company broadened its product portfolio both organically and via acquisition into an integrated service assurance offering for mobile backhaul as well as datacenter and enterprise connectivity
- Assisted the company with the acquisition of Prosilient Technologies AB, a Swedish software company that enables Accedian to develop virtualized versions of its products
Today, Accedian’s software and technology are used by the world’s largest mobile, enterprise, and carrier networks, including Telefonica, T-Mobile, Cox Business, Softbank, América Móvil, Reliance Jio and COLT. With 26 locations around the world, Accedian continues to grow, helping telecom operators worldwide deliver a superior quality of experience for its customers