NFWare
NFWare sells patented virtualized networking software — primarily Virtual CGNAT and Virtual Load Balancer — that runs on commodity x86 servers to help telecom operators and ISPs address IPv4 exhaustion and deliver high-performance L4/L7 load balancing without proprietary hardware.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersSunnyvale, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What NFWare does
NFWare is a privately held US software vendor specializing in high-performance virtualized network functions for telecom operators, ISPs, and large enterprises. Founded around 2015–2016 and headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, the company employs 11–50 people and reports serving 360 million subscribers across 24 countries on five continents. Its core technology is a patented fast packet processing engine that runs entirely on commodity x86 servers in NFV and cloud environments, eliminating the need for specialized packet processing hardware.
The company sells two flagship products: NFWare Virtual CGNAT (a carrier-grade NAT supporting NAT44, NAT64, DS-Lite, Port Block Allocation, deterministic NAT, and high-availability clustering) and NFWare Virtual Load Balancer (an L4/L7 ADC with DDoS mitigation). The company claims industry-leading performance of 440 Gbps per standard x86 server with all features enabled, scalability from 500 Mbps to 5 Tbps, and up to 70% cost reduction versus hardware appliances. Validated deployments include Beeline Kazakhstan (1.6 Tbps), an unnamed tier-1 CSP at over 3 Tbps, Tele2 Russia, Tinkoff Mobile, Telefonica, and Mail.Ru Group, alongside a long tail of regional ISPs.
NFWare generates revenue through capacity-based software licensing and subscriptions on a pay-as-you-grow model, distributed via direct enterprise field sales to telecom operators, supplemented by a formal partner program (H3C, Intel Network Builders Winners' Circle, Red Hat, Lenovo, OSM/MANO ecosystem) and a self-serve free trial for evaluation. The company has raised approximately $4.1 million in disclosed equity across five rounds between 2015 and 2021, with Almaz Capital, Sistema_VC, Maxfield Capital, and Telefonica among its backers.
NFWare firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NFWare
- Legal name
- NFWare Inc.
- Website
- https://nfware.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- NFWare sells patented virtualized networking software — primarily Virtual CGNAT and Virtual Load Balancer — that runs on commodity x86 servers to help telecom operators and ISPs address IPv4 exhaustion and deliver high-performance L4/L7 load balancing without proprietary hardware.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NFWare industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Network Functions Virtualization Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) (HDAFANAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) & Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) (HDAIAIAB)
Keywords
Where NFWare is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sunnyvale
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
NFWare business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licenses and Subscriptions: NFWare generates revenue through software licensing of its virtual CGNAT and Load Balancer products. Licensing is based on capacity (throughput/subscribers) with a 'pay as you grow' model allowing operators to start with lower capacity and scale as needed. Software runs on commodity x86 servers, reducing hardware costs for customers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free trial available for virtual CGNAT |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
NFWare product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NFWare develops and licenses high-performance virtualized networking software for telecom operators, ISPs, and data centers. Its two flagship offerings—NFWare Virtual CGNAT (carrier-grade NAT supporting NAT44, NAT64, DS-Lite) and NFWare Virtual Load Balancer (L4/L7 load balancer with DDoS protection)—run as software on standard commodity x86 servers in NFV and Cloud environments, eliminating proprietary hardware while delivering up to 440 Gbps throughput per server. Revenue is generated through software licensing and subscriptions on a pay-as-you-grow capacity-based model.
Product overview
NFWare offers two core virtual networking software products: Virtual CGNAT and Virtual Load Balancer. Both products are designed as software-only solutions running on standard x86 servers in NFV and Cloud environments, leveraging patented fast packet processing technology. Virtual CGNAT addresses IPv4 address exhaustion for telecom operators and ISPs by providing carrier-grade NAT functionality, while Virtual Load Balancer delivers high-performance Layer 4 load balancing with DDoS protection capabilities. The company claims up to 440 Gbps throughput per standard server and emphasizes cost-effectiveness through hardware utilization, pay-as-you-grow licensing, and use of commodity servers instead of proprietary hardware.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- NFWare Virtual CGNAT High-performance virtual Carrier-Grade NAT (CGNAT) software for telecom operators and ISPs that enables thousands of subscribers to share a single public IPv4 address, supporting NAT44, NAT64, and DS-Lite operational modes with Port Block Allocation, high availability clustering, and hundreds of gigabits per second throughput per standard x86 server.
- NFWare Virtual Load Balancer Virtual Layer 4 / Layer 7 Load Balancer (vADC) software for high-loaded deployments that significantly decreases network loads and prevents harmful DDoS attacks; supports Layer 4 and Layer 7 balancing, SSL offloading, and application awareness running on standard x86 servers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 440 Gbps throughput per standard x86 server with all features enabled
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use NFWare
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
NFWare technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
NFWare partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- H3CcoreNFWare achieved Two-Star Partner Status with H3C following training and certification of its engineering team. The partnership involves seamless deployments of NFWare CGNAT software on H3C servers and switches for telecom operators. H3C hardware provides flexible configuration supporting NFWare solutions with 10, 25, 40, 100, and 200 GbE options for varying throughput levels.
- TelefónicacoreTelefónica and NFWare partnered to demonstrate high-throughput carrier-grade network address translation in NFV environment. They completed performance tests of NFWare Virtual CGNAT in the Telefónica NFV Reference Lab in Munich, Germany. NFWare vCGNAT achieved 40 Gbps on an Intel Xeon processor-based server deployed as a Virtual Machine on Red Hat KVM hypervisor within a COTS x86 architecture-based server.
- Intel Winners' Circle ProgramcoreNFWare is recognized as a Solution Plus Partner of the Intel Network Builders Winners' Circle Program. This partnership provides technology integration and validation on Intel infrastructure, with NFWare software supporting Intel CPUs and compatible with Intel network interface cards.
- Brander GroupminorNFWare and Brander Group partnered to help ISPs sell unused IPv4 Addresses, creating a go-to-market partnership for IPv4 address monetization.
- CableLabsminorNFWare was selected as a finalist for CableLabs Innovation Showcase 2016 at Cable Congress in Warsaw, Poland, recognizing innovative products for cable operators.
- EANTCcoreEANTC independently benchmarked NFWare Virtual CGNAT and confirmed it is ready for large-scale deployments. EANTC is a leading European test center specializing in telecom network technologies.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
NFWare competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mavenir: Mavenir is a major NFV/5G vendor offering a broad portfolio of virtualized network functions for mobile operators; while broader in scope, it overlaps with NFWare in delivering cloud-native VNFs to tier-1 carriers.
- Affirmed Networks: Affirmed Networks (now part of Microsoft) provided virtualized Evolved Packet Core and other VNFs to tier-1 mobile operators, competing in the same NFV/CGNAT-adjacent carrier software market that NFWare addresses.
- Cisco: Cisco's Network Services Orchestrator and virtualized routing/ADC portfolio (including virtual CGN) competes broadly with NFWare in telco cloud environments, with significantly larger R&D and go-to-market resources.
- Citrix (Cloud Software Group): Citrix ADC (NetScaler) is a long-established virtual and hardware load balancing/application delivery platform, directly competing with NFWare's Virtual Load Balancer in enterprise and service provider deployments.
- Juniper Networks: Juniper's Contrail and cNF (cloud-native network functions) portfolio targets the same NFV market as NFWare, with broader routing and security breadth but overlapping virtualized networking software offerings.
Direct peers
- F5: F5 is the established market leader in application delivery controllers (ADCs) and load balancing, with a virtual edition (F5 BIG-IP VE) that competes directly with NFWare's Virtual Load Balancer in NFV and cloud environments.
- A10 Networks: A10 Networks offers Thunder CGN (Carrier-Grade Networking) and vThunder virtual appliances, directly competing with NFWare's Virtual CGNAT in IPv4 address translation and NAT44/NAT64 use cases for ISPs and mobile operators.
- 6WIND: 6WIND provides high-performance virtual networking software (vRouter, vCGNAT) running on standard x86 servers for telco and cloud — a near-direct competitor to NFWare's CGNAT and packet processing products.
- Radware: Radware offers virtual ADC/Alteon and DDoS mitigation solutions, competing with NFWare's Virtual Load Balancer for high-throughput L4/L7 load balancing in carrier and data center environments.
Emerging players
- NetNumber: NetNumber provides virtualized signaling, security, and routing solutions for telecom operators, with overlapping NFV/CGNAT-adjacent capabilities and a similar focus on tier-1 carrier customers.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
NFWare social profiles
Digital presenceNFWare financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NFWare leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
NFWare funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors9 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NFWare 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 NFWare
What does NFWare do?
NFWare develops and licenses high-performance virtualized networking software for telecom operators, ISPs, and data centers. Its two flagship offerings—NFWare Virtual CGNAT (carrier-grade NAT supporting NAT44, NAT64, DS-Lite) and NFWare Virtual Load Balancer (L4/L7 load balancer with DDoS protection)—run as software on standard commodity x86 servers in NFV and Cloud environments, eliminating proprietary hardware while delivering up to 440 Gbps throughput per server. Revenue is generated through software licensing and subscriptions on a pay-as-you-grow capacity-based model.
Is NFWare a public or private company?
NFWare is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was NFWare founded?
NFWare was founded in 2016. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NFWare based?
NFWare is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States, in the North America region.
How does NFWare make money?
One revenue line is on record: software Licenses and Subscriptions.
Who are NFWare's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mavenir, Affirmed Networks, Cisco, Citrix (Cloud Software Group) and Juniper Networks. Direct peers are F5, A10 Networks, 6WIND and Radware. NetNumber is listed as an emerging player.
Does NFWare have an API?
No public API is recorded for NFWare.
What industry is NFWare in?
NFWare's product category is Network Functions Virtualization Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAFANAA, Virtual Network Functions (VNFs), with a secondary code of HDAIAIAB, NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) & Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7373.