Federated Wireless unveils $58 million plan to fund 5G wireless portfolio

Federated Wireless, the leader in shared spectrum and CBRS technology, announced that it has secured $58 million in Series D funding. An affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”) led the round, with existing investors Allied Minds and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, also participating.

The funding will help scale Federated Wireless’ platform and support further investments in its capabilities and partnerships. Founded in 2012, Federated Wireless is focused on accelerating enterprise adoption of private wireless networking and delivering new capabilities for network edge innovation. With this latest round of funding, its goal is to simplify and automate how wireless networks are purchased, deployed, provisioned, and managed, making it easier for organizations to customize their network to business requirements, and speed time to market with advancements in IoT, VR/AR, and other digital technologies.

“Private wireless will deliver the type of transformation for enterprises that the cloud delivered for IT infrastructure,” stated Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi. “This investment will enable us to scale our spectrum platforms, invest in commercialization, and accelerate private wireless market adoption.”

Democratizing wireless with shared spectrum
Shared spectrum, also known as CBRS, is an innovative technology that delivers the best attributes of traditional wireless and Wi-Fi, with lower fixed cost, higher quality, and greater efficiency and scale.

As the first to market with a Spectrum Access System (“SAS”), Federated Wireless is the nationwide leader in enabling, commercializing, and driving adoption of shared spectrum. With more than 350 customers and over 85,000 connected devices across the United States and territories, the company serves a customer base spanning defense, government, manufacturing, telecommunications, utilities, real estate, and education, with a wide range of use cases ranging from network densification and mobile offload to private wireless and industrial IoT. Noteworthy customers include Charter, Comcast, Verizon, the US Department of Defense, Carnegie Mellon University, and others.

Accelerating private 5G wireless for enterprise
“Federated Wireless is powering innovation in how networks are delivered and reshaping wireless connectivity for a cloud-driven world,” stated Bryan Yeo, GIC’s Chief Investment Officer of Public Equities. “As a long-term investor, we are confident that the global demand for bandwidth will continue to grow, and Federated Wireless is providing essential technologies and services to lead in this space.”

Critical to the Federated Wireless strategy is expanding its edge solutions, which it will achieve through collaboration with hyperscale providers including AWS, Intel, HPE-Aruba, JMA, Cisco, and others. The company’s top priorities include:

• Investing in cloud-native tools to empower edge innovation, including automation, application analytics, and zero touch provisioning (ZTP);
• Mobilizing the ecosystem with a heightened focus on relationship management, business development, and sales enablement;
• Expanding product capabilities for sharing in 6 Ghz and promoting its adoption domestically and internationally; and,
• Ramping up commercial capacity with increased investment in Sales, Marketing, and Customer Success.

The investment from Cerberus is driven by its focus on advancing next-generation technologies and telecommunication solutions. Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir, a senior advisor, stated: “Federated Wireless has revolutionized the way enterprise networks are delivered, transforming the economics of wireless for mobility while opening the door to high performance connectivity and industrial automation. We are excited to support its mission to advance shared spectrum and private 5G.”

Investing in growth
In addition to significant investments in product development, Federated Wireless made key appointments to the company’s leadership team and Board.

• Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir joins the Federated Wireless Board, bringing senior C-level experience from industry giants such as Verizon, Barclays, Juniper, and Coriant, where he served as CEO and Chairman
• Industry veteran Chris Swan joins as Chief Commercial Officer to drive record growth with leadership over sales, marketing, and customer care.
• Strategic operations and finance executive Loren Buck joins as Chief Financial Officer, accountable for capital raising, strategic investments, financial planning, and cash management.

Harry Rein Chairman of the Board, Allied Minds, concluded: “I’m proud of Federated Wireless’ achievements. The company has gained share, surpassed development milestones and secured significant customer implementations moving into 2022. Our investors are excited about the company’s market positioning, and optimistic about near-term revenue prospects as well as the growth of the market at large.”

CT Bureau