Founded 2015 by Ido Susan (Intucell/Cisco) and Hillel Kobrinsky (Interwise/AT&T). $997M raised, $8.5B valuation. Israel's 2nd-largest private company. AI networking for GPU clusters.
Cloud-native networking for telcos and AI infrastructure · Founded 2015 by Ido Susan and Hillel Kobrinsky · HQ Ra'anana, Israel · $997M raised · $8.5B valuation (June 2026) · Cash-flow positive · $1B+ backlog · Israel's second-largest private company · AT&T core customer · AMD strategic investor.
DriveNets at a Glance
| Company | DriveNets Ltd. |
| Founded | December 2015, Israel |
| Co-founders | Ido Susan (CEO) · Hillel Kobrinsky |
| Headquarters | Ra'anana, Israel |
| Product | Cloud-native networking software — Network Cloud (telco core routing) + Network Cloud-AI (Ethernet-based AI fabric) |
| Total funding | $997M across 5 rounds ($1B total capital raised) |
| Valuation | $8.5B (Series D, June 2026) |
| Revenue/backlog | $1B+ in orders and project backlog · Cash-flow positive since 2025 |
| Key customer | AT&T (deployed Network Cloud in core infrastructure, September 2020; purchased employee shares at $650M valuation, July 2025) |
| Investors | Bessemer Venture Partners, Atreides Management, Pitango, D1 Capital Partners, AMD (strategic), Red Dot Capital, Harel Insurance |
| Employees | ~350 |
| Status | Israel's 2nd-largest private company (after VAST Data) |
Susan and Kobrinsky: Serial Acquirees Who Built Their Own Category
The founding team's track record is the strongest signal in the DriveNets story. Ido Susan co-founded Intucell, a mobile network management company that Cisco acquired for $475 million in 2013. Hillel Kobrinsky founded Interwise, a web-conferencing platform that AT&T acquired for $121 million in 2007. Both founders had built companies that were bought by the largest networking and telecommunications companies in the world — and then chose to build the next-generation version independently rather than inside those acquirers.
The founding thesis, launched in late 2015, was that telecommunications networks had become structurally overpriced because they ran on proprietary hardware from vendors like Cisco, Juniper, and Nokia — closed systems where the cost of adding capacity scaled linearly with the vendor's pricing power. DriveNets' approach: disaggregate the network into standard white-box hardware running cloud-native routing software, the way hyperscalers like Google and Amazon had already disaggregated their own internal networks. The bet was that telecom operators would follow the hyperscaler playbook once the software was good enough.
The AT&T Deployment
The bet landed its proof point in September 2020 when AT&T — the largest telecommunications company in the United States — deployed DriveNets' Network Cloud into its core routing infrastructure. This was not a trial or a pilot; it was a production deployment inside the core of AT&T's network, replacing proprietary routing systems with DriveNets' software running on standard hardware. The AT&T deployment remains the single most significant reference customer in DriveNets' commercial history and one of the most consequential vendor decisions in recent telecommunications infrastructure history.
In July 2025, AT&T purchased shares from DriveNets employees and investors in a $650 million secondary transaction — a direct financial investment by the customer in the vendor, validating the deployment's success and AT&T's institutional commitment to the DriveNets architecture.
The AI Infrastructure Pivot
DriveNets' second act is AI infrastructure networking. The company's Network Cloud-AI product provides Ethernet-based networking fabric for large-scale GPU clusters — the data-center architecture that powers AI model training and inference. The product competes with Nvidia's InfiniBand (Mellanox) networking, offering an open, multi-vendor alternative built on standard Ethernet rather than Nvidia's proprietary high-speed interconnect.
The AI networking market is projected to reach $200 billion by 2030 (650 Group), driven by hyperscaler and neocloud investment in GPU infrastructure. DriveNets' pitch: its Ethernet fabric delivers InfiniBand-level performance while resolving the "idle CapEx" problem in large GPU clusters — the issue where expensive GPUs sit underutilized because the networking fabric cannot feed them data fast enough. AMD's strategic investment in the June 2026 round signals that the non-Nvidia chip ecosystem sees DriveNets as a key infrastructure partner.
The $8.5B Valuation
In June 2026, DriveNets closed a $410 million Series D led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Atreides Management, with AMD and Red Dot Capital joining as new investors and Pitango and D1 Capital continuing. The round valued DriveNets at $8.5 billion — making it Israel's second-largest privately held company behind VAST Data ($30 billion). Total capital raised crossed $1 billion.
The valuation is supported by more than $1 billion in secured orders and project backlog, cash-flow positivity since 2025, and the structural tailwind of AI infrastructure spending. Globes reported that DriveNets is also exploring a secondary transaction later in 2026 — a potential liquidity event for early employees and investors ahead of an eventual IPO.
DriveNets in the Israeli Networking and AI Infrastructure Layer
DriveNets is part of an emerging Israeli AI infrastructure cohort that includes NextSilicon (reconfigurable compute, $1.6B valuation), WEKA (AI-native storage, $1.6B valuation), and the broader Israeli semiconductor IP layer (CEVA, Weebit Nano). Together, these companies represent an Israeli structural position in the compute, networking, and storage layers of AI infrastructure — the plumbing underneath the model layer that AI21 Labs and the Israeli foundation-model cohort occupy.
Susan's trajectory — Intucell to Cisco to DriveNets — mirrors the broader Israeli pattern of operators learning inside acquirers and then building the next-generation version independently. The pattern produced Wiz (Adallom to Microsoft to Wiz), Shalev Hulio (NSO to Dream Security), and now DriveNets (Intucell/Cisco to DriveNets). The operator recycling cycle is the Israeli technology sector's most reliable competitive advantage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded DriveNets?
Ido Susan (CEO, co-founded Intucell/Cisco $475M) and Hillel Kobrinsky (founded Interwise/AT&T $121M), both Israeli serial entrepreneurs, co-founded DriveNets in Ra'anana in December 2015.
What does DriveNets do?
DriveNets builds cloud-native networking software for telecommunications operators and AI infrastructure — replacing proprietary routing hardware with software running on standard white-box systems.
How much has DriveNets raised?
$997 million across five rounds, most recently a $410 million Series D at an $8.5 billion valuation in June 2026.
Is DriveNets profitable?
DriveNets has been cash-flow positive since 2025 with more than $1 billion in orders and project backlog.
Who is DriveNets' biggest customer?
AT&T deployed DriveNets' Network Cloud in its core routing infrastructure in September 2020 and invested $650 million in a secondary share purchase in July 2025.
How does DriveNets compare to Nvidia networking?
DriveNets' Ethernet-based AI fabric competes with Nvidia's InfiniBand (Mellanox) interconnect, offering an open, multi-vendor alternative for GPU cluster networking.
Is DriveNets going public?
No IPO filing has been announced, but the company is exploring secondary transactions and its scale ($8.5B valuation, cash-flow positive, $1B backlog) positions it for an eventual listing.
Primary Sources
DriveNets company announcements on Series D (June 2026). Calcalist/CTech, Globes, and Reuters reporting on $410M round and $8.5B valuation. Times of Israel Series C coverage (August 2022). 650 Group market projections on AI networking. Startup Nation Central and Tracxn company profiles. Ground News and Yahoo Finance on AMD investment.
Related Olam Coverage
NextSilicon: Israel's $1.6B Nvidia Alternative · WEKA: The Israeli Storage Layer for GPU Compute · CEVA · Israeli AI Economy Map · The Builders
