- Startup MaiaEdge wants to bring operators better, automated private Ethernet paths
- Its Path Border Controller combines Layer 2 and Layer 3 features to enable fiber and DIA connectivity in a single fabric
- As operators like Lumen offer private connectivity and cloud on-ramp, MaiaEdge wants to make it easy for smaller providers to do the same
MaiaEdge, a startup founded by two former Juniper execs, says it’s made an easy button for network providers to take control of their private network paths.
The company wants to bridge the gap between Ethernet “islands,” isolated operators and enterprises that are encumbered with manual interconnection models, MaiaEdge Co-Founder and CRO Tim Ziemer told Fierce.
Ethernet is undergoing a “renaissance” in the era of AI workloads, he said, what with AWS and Microsoft using the technology in their backbones. Nvidia and Cisco recently trotted out Ethernet-based products to help AI traffic scale across data centers.
The Ethernet dilemma
That being said, Ethernet’s got some missing pieces for network-to-network interfaces (NNIs), Ziemer noted. For one, “there’s no automation once you leave kind of your network bubble.”
Providers can pay for cross-connects from carrier-neutral facilities, but they still need to handle manual provisioning, which can take anywhere from weeks to months, he said. Then they don’t have visibility into packets once traffic crosses the network edge.
Companies built through acquisition also face this issue when they may be connected to the same network but aren’t fully integrated. “You’ve got different engineering teams with separate tool sets. You’ve got no shared vendor stack,” Ziemer explained.
What MaiaEdge proposes
To address these hurdles, MaiaEdge created a Path Border Controller (PBC) device that features dual 100 Gbps ports and merges Layer 2 and Layer 3 networking capabilities. The device pairs with the company’s cloud-based Path Computation Engine (PCE) that can “basically map and forward Ethernet paths across the wide area, rather than having to deploy IP,” said Ziemer.
Essentially, MaiaEdge’s PBC enables fiber and Direct Internet Access (DIA) connectivity in a single fabric, while the PCE software creates automated private network paths. “Different providers have different views of the network depending on who they are, and it provides this end-to-end visibility,” Ziemer said.
Sound familiar? Lumen provides on-demand private networking for enterprises and cloud customers via its Private Connectivity Fabric, and Zayo offers similar services such as CloudLink.
For MaiaEdge’s part, it wants to help other operators, not just the Tier 1s, build these services for customers.
“Lumen has invested tens of millions of dollars in product development in order to be able to deliver private connectivity to the cloud. If you’re a smaller operator, that gets very difficult to do,” Zeimer said.
More control to operators
He noted MaiaEdge’s PCE software is natively integrated with the systems of Equinix and Megaport, allowing operators to automatically connect to services like AWS Direct Connect and Azure Express Route.
Say an operator has customers who want cloud on-ramps but it doesn’t offer that as a service. Instead of making customers go to Equinix or Megaport and basically establish a new contract, “we’ve programmed the APIs” so that the operator can provide a “branded portal” its customers can use to self-provision, said Zeimer.
If a PBC is sitting on its Ethernet network, the operator can “dynamically go into our marketplace,” find another provider that sells on-ramp services and then sell that to its own customers “without exposing that back-end and how they’re doing it.”
Sovereignty is the glue that holds that process together, said Zeimer. “That’s a really important distinction because now [operators] remain in control. They can use the fabrics, whether it’s Megaport or Equinix, but it allows them to sell services directly.”
MaiaEdge launched in 2024, and since then has gradually climbed out of stealth mode. This week, the company announced it raised $20 million in Series A financing, led by investors such as G20 Ventures.
The concept MaiaEdge proposes isn’t necessarily new, but it’s “not a trivial undertaking” either, said J.Gold Associates Principal Jack Gold, who pointed out this kind of federated networking is most appropriate for "very geographically diverse" companies that need to interconnect data center operations.
“By being the connectivity middleman, this company can made the interconnection issues – having to work with multiple network providers - go away,” he said, noting the IoT industry is facing similar challenges in the shipping and transportation sector, as connected systems move from one network location to another.
“MaiaEdge is taking it to the next level for higher speed, higher bandwidth interconnectivity,” said Gold. “At the end of the day, it will depend on just how seamless and easy to use this will be for enterprises in order for them to adopt it.”