DriveNets raises $410 million as AI boom pushes valuation to $8.5 billion
The Israeli networking company says it is cash-flow positive with over $1B in backlog as AI demand accelerates.
Communications company DriveNets has raised $410 million in a fourth funding round at a valuation of $8.5 billion, reflecting a significant increase in the company’s value. Total investment in DriveNets since its inception now stands at approximately $1 billion.
DriveNets develops networking solutions that improve the performance of end-to-end AI infrastructure for telecommunications providers, leading AI companies, and cloud operators building and managing large-scale systems.
The company says it is cash-flow positive, with more than $1 billion in orders and project backlog. Its technology is based on standard infrastructure combined with proprietary software layers that enable high-performance scaling across massive AI compute clusters.
The new investment will support the expansion of DriveNets’ AI infrastructure business, increase platform capacity for large-scale deployments, and help meet growing demand expected in 2026 and 2027 amid rapid global investment in AI infrastructure.
The company is also exploring a potential secondary transaction later this year.
The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Atreides Management, alongside existing investors Pitango and D1 Capital Partners, strategic investor AMD, and new investor Red Dot Capital Partners.
Last July, American telecommunications giant AT&T acquired shares from employees and investors of DriveNets for $650 million.
DriveNets was founded by Ido Susan (CEO) and Hillel Kobrinsky (chief strategy officer). Susan previously founded Intucell, which was acquired by Cisco in 2013 for $475 million after raising just $6 million.
AT&T has long been a major customer of DriveNets, whose Network Cloud solution has already been widely deployed in the core network of the U.S. telecom giant. AT&T’s investment enabled the company’s employees, founders, and investors, such as the Israeli venture capital firm Pitango and the American firm Bessemer, to realize a return on their investment. Other beneficiaries included the company’s founders, led by CEO Ido Susan.
