Calient Technologies
Calient Technologies designs and sells the S320, a 320-port all-optical circuit switch based on proprietary 3D MEMS technology, serving telecommunications providers, data center operators, and government/defense customers with low-latency, protocol-agnostic photonic switching hardware.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersGoleta, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Calient Technologies does
Calient Technologies (legal entity Calient.AI, Inc.) is a privately held photonic optical circuit switching company founded in 1999 and headquartered in Goleta, California. The company designs and manufactures the S320 Optical Circuit Switch, a 320-port all-optical (OOO) switch based on proprietary 3D MEMS technology that establishes, monitors, and reconfigures connections between single-mode optical fibers entirely within the photonic domain, without optical-to-electrical conversion. The S320 and broader S-Series product family deliver sub-30ns latency, less than 1.5dB insertion loss, under 45W power consumption, and protocol-agnostic operation supporting 40/100 Gbps through 400 Gbps and beyond. With over 1 million ports shipped globally, Calient serves telecommunications service providers, data center operators (cloud, enterprise, and colocation), and government/defense customers with applications spanning test automation, wireless fronthaul/backhaul, disaster recovery, subsea cable management, FTTP, and cybersecurity. The company operates a direct enterprise sales motion with quote-based pricing and multi-year contracts, complemented by technical support programs, training, and managed services.
Calient's business model is anchored in hardware sales of its OCS platforms, supplemented by support and maintenance services and increasingly positioned around software-defined optical networking use cases through published whitepapers on SD-DCI, vCluster, and vPod architectures. The company has raised approximately $530 million+ in disclosed funding across multiple rounds since 1999, with TeleSoft Partners as the consistent lead investor. In 2017, Calient secured $50 million from Suzhou Chunxing Precision Mechanical, signaling Asian market interest, and the company executed the acquisition of Kionix (a 3D-MEMS vendor) as part of a broader transaction sequence valued at over $500 million. Calient maintains 51–100 employees and remains privately held with no public listing; in 2024 it rebranded from CALIENT Technologies to Calient.AI, signaling an intent to capture mindshare in the AI infrastructure narrative while continuing to sell the same underlying photonic hardware platform.
Calient Technologies firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Calient Technologies
- Legal name
- Calient.AI, Inc.
- Website
- https://calient.net
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Calient Technologies designs and sells the S320, a 320-port all-optical circuit switch based on proprietary 3D MEMS technology, serving telecommunications providers, data center operators, and government/defense customers with low-latency, protocol-agnostic photonic switching hardware.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Calient Technologies industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Optical Network Equipment
- NAICS
- Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413), Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing (33441)
- SIC
- Computer Communications Equipment (3576), Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Active Optical Cables (AOC) & Optical Interconnects (HDAFAEAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs) (HDAHAAAH), Optoelectronic Emitters (LED/Laser/VCSEL) (HDAHALAL)
Keywords
Where Calient Technologies is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Goleta
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Calient Technologies business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Optical Circuit Switch Hardware Sales: Calient generates revenue through the sale of its S320 Optical Circuit Switch hardware products. The company sells directly to telecommunications service providers, data center operators, and government entities. Products are quote-based with no public pricing listed.
- Support and Maintenance Services: Calient offers technical support programs including technical training, repair services, maintenance services, and installation support. Support is provided through a dedicated help center with automated ticketing system.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Quote-based enterprise pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Calient Technologies product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Calient Technologies designs, manufactures, and sells 3D MEMS-based photonic Optical Circuit Switches (OCS), with the S320 as its flagship 320-port all-optical switch. The switches establish, monitor, and change connections between single-mode optical fibers entirely within the photonic domain, without optical-to-electrical conversion, supporting networks from 40/100 Gbps to 400 Gbps and beyond. The company complements hardware sales with technical support, training, repair, maintenance, and installation services for telecom service providers, data center operators, and government customers.
Product overview
Calient Technologies offers a unified photonic optical circuit switching portfolio centered on the S320 Optical Circuit Switch—a 320-port all-optical switch that operates entirely in the photonic domain without optical-electrical conversion. The S-Series represents the broader product family providing automated optical switching and management infrastructure for data center, service provider, and government applications. Together, the S320 (the core 320-port switching platform) and S-Series (the product family architecture) address applications including test automation, wireless networks, cloud data centers, disaster recovery, subsea cable networks, FTTP, and cybersecurity, with over 1 million ports shipped globally.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- S320 Optical Circuit Switch An all-optical (OOO) 3D MEMS switch that establishes, monitors, and changes connections between single-mode optical fibers entirely within the photonic domain without optical-electrical conversion. Provides 320 fully non-blocking ports with sub-50ms port switching, sub-200ms fabric configuration, 30ns latency, <1.5dB insertion loss, and <45W power consumption. Protocol-agnostic and transparent to data speed, supporting 40/100 Gbps to 400 Gbps and beyond. Targeted at telecom service providers, data center operators, and government/defense organizations.
- S-Series Optical Circuit Switches The S-Series product family provides scalable and protocol-independent automated optical switching and management infrastructure for Data Center, Service Provider, and Government applications, including DevOps/Test Automation, Wireless Networks, Cloud/Enterprise/Colocation Data Centers, Disaster Recovery, Subsea Cable Networks, FTTP Networks, and Cybersecurity use cases.
- Technical Support Programs Post-sale support programs covering technical training, repair services, maintenance services, and installation support for Calient optical circuit switch customers. Provided through a dedicated help center with an automated ticketing system accessed via calient.atlassian.net.
Quantifiable outcome
- Data center operators can dramatically improve utilization rates of expensive compute resources which typically account for 75 to 90% of investment
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Calient Technologies
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Calient Technologies technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Calient Technologies partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Calient Technologies competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Infinera: Infinera (now part of Nokia) designs optical transport networking equipment for telecommunications carriers, internet content providers, and data center operators. It overlaps with Calient in serving telecom and data center optical networking needs but at the coherent transport/wavelength layer rather than MEMS circuit switching.
- Ciena: Ciena is a leading provider of optical transport and switching systems for telecom carriers and data center operators. It competes with Calient in the optical networking infrastructure space, particularly for service providers seeking integrated packet-optical platforms, though Calient specializes in all-optical circuit switching rather than coherent transport.
- Nokia (Optical Networks): Nokia's optical networks division provides WDM, optical transport, and switching equipment for service providers and data centers. Comparable to Calient in serving telecom-grade optical infrastructure customers, but Nokia's portfolio is far broader and includes packet-optical platforms rather than all-optical circuit switching.
- Cisco Systems (Acacia Communications): Cisco (via its Acacia Communications acquisition) is a major player in optical interconnects and coherent optical technology for telecom and data center networks. Both companies target the same enterprise/telecom optical switching and interconnect market, but Cisco offers a much broader portfolio spanning routing, switching, and software.
- Juniper Networks: Juniper Networks is both a strategic investor in Calient (since 2001) and a competitor in the broader networking equipment market. It offers routing, switching, and optical transport products targeting the same service provider and data center customers as Calient.
- ADTRAN: ADTRAN provides networking and communications equipment for service providers and enterprises, including fiber access and optical transport solutions. While broader than Calient, it competes in adjacent FTTP and optical infrastructure segments where Calient targets network operators.
- Coherent (II-VI): Coherent Corp (formerly II-VI Incorporated) is a major manufacturer of optoelectronic components, lasers, and MEMS-based photonic devices. It supplies components and subsystems that overlap with the broader photonic/MEMS technology stack that Calient leverages, though Coherent is upstream rather than a direct OCS competitor.
Direct peers
- DiCon Fiberoptics: DiCon Fiberoptics manufactures MEMS-based optical switches and components used in telecom, test & measurement, and data center applications. Its MEMS optical switch portfolio overlaps directly with Calient's S320/S-Series offerings, serving similar enterprise and carrier customers.
- Telescent Networks: Telescent Networks develops automated optical cross-connect and fiber patching systems for data centers and telecom networks. It is the closest direct competitor to Calient in all-optical circuit switching, targeting similar physical-layer automation use cases in hyperscale and carrier networks.
- Huber+Suhner Polatis: Huber+Suhner Polatis (now H+S Polatis) offers all-optical circuit switches and photonic switching solutions for data center, telecom, and government applications. It is a direct competitor to Calient in the all-optical switch category with comparable port counts and low-latency claims.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Calient Technologies social profiles
Digital presenceCalient Technologies financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Calient Technologies leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Calient Technologies funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds18 records
Investors21 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Calient Technologies M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Calient Technologies
What does Calient Technologies do?
Calient Technologies designs, manufactures, and sells 3D MEMS-based photonic Optical Circuit Switches (OCS), with the S320 as its flagship 320-port all-optical switch. The switches establish, monitor, and change connections between single-mode optical fibers entirely within the photonic domain, without optical-to-electrical conversion, supporting networks from 40/100 Gbps to 400 Gbps and beyond. The company complements hardware sales with technical support, training, repair, maintenance, and installation services for telecom service providers, data center operators, and government customers.
Is Calient Technologies a public or private company?
Calient Technologies is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Calient Technologies founded?
Calient Technologies was founded in 2001. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Calient Technologies based?
Calient Technologies is headquartered in Goleta, United States, in the North America region.
How does Calient Technologies make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Optical Circuit Switch Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are support and Maintenance Services.
Who are Calient Technologies's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Infinera, Ciena, Nokia (Optical Networks), Cisco Systems (Acacia Communications), Juniper Networks, ADTRAN and Coherent (II-VI). Direct peers are DiCon Fiberoptics, Telescent Networks and Huber+Suhner Polatis.
Does Calient Technologies have an API?
Yes. The S320 switch supports REST APIs for management and control. The product is also GUI-driven and EMS-ready, supporting multiple management protocols including TL1, SNMP, CORBA, and OpenFlow alongside REST APIs for automated network management and integration.
What industry is Calient Technologies in?
Calient Technologies's product category is Optical Network Equipment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAFAEAG, Active Optical Cables (AOC) & Optical Interconnects, with a secondary code of HDAHAAAH, Optoelectronics & Photonics (LED/Laser/Optical ICs). Its NAICS code is 334413 and its SIC code is 3576.