What Asterfusion does

Asterfusion (星融元) is a China-based open networking infrastructure provider headquartered in Suzhou, founded in 2017 and operating with 251-500 employees. The company builds enterprise-grade networking equipment on top of the SONiC open-source network operating system, anchored by its proprietary AsterNOS distribution and complemented by FusionNOS for visibility use cases. Its core product portfolio spans ultra-low latency data center switches (CX-N Series supporting 100G to 800G with RoCEv2), cloud campus switches (CX-M Series), open smart gateways (ET Series with compute-network convergence), Helium DPU smart network cards with open-source firmware, and P4-programmable platforms (CX-T, X-T, PX-T). Asterfusion claims 560ns port-to-port and 500ns end-to-end latency on its 800G switches, with reported TCO savings of 27.5-70% versus InfiniBand for AI compute fabrics, and 50%+ TCO reduction on campus networks versus traditional architectures.

The company's business model is hardware-led, with switches, DPU cards, and gateways as primary revenue, supplemented by subscription/licensing revenue from AsterNOS and FusionNOS software, professional services for deployment and customization, and a freemium EasyRoCE toolkit for AI infrastructure automation. Go-to-market is direct enterprise sales targeting AI computing centers, data centers, and campus networks, supplemented by system integrators for regional coverage in China. Customer segments span AI/ML compute clusters (primary), HPC, distributed storage, enterprise campus, and verticals including IDC, electric power, financial, telecom operators, education, and healthcare. Named customer wins include MetaX (沐曦) for DeepSeek inference networking. Asterfusion received a Gartner Honorable Mention in the Data Center Switching Magic Quadrant in 2025, noted as the only vendor specifically mentioned for SONiC product offerings.

Asterfusion operates exclusively in the Chinese market and is privately held, having raised disclosed funding of approximately $18.9M across 2017 and 2019 rounds, plus an undisclosed round in January 2026 led by Caixin Industry Fund and Lianhe Capital. Recent strategic activity includes a strategic partnership with DaoCloud for containerized AI infrastructure, multiple product launches in 2025 (CX864E-N 800G switch, ET2500 gateway, EasyRoCE 2.0, OpenClaw AI agent), and IDC-reported 220% QoQ 800G switch revenue growth in H1 2025.

Name

Asterfusion

Legal name

星融元数据技术（苏州）有限公司

Website

https://asterfusion.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Asterfusion (星融元) is a China-based open networking infrastructure provider, founded in 2017 and headquartered in Suzhou. It builds enterprise-grade SONiC-based switches (CX-N 100G-800G, CX-M campus), DPU smart network cards, and compute-network gateways for AI compute centers, data centers, and campus networks across Chinese AI/cloud and enterprise verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Enterprise Networking Infrastructure

NAICS

Other Communications Equipment Manufacturing (33429), Communications Equipment Manufacturing (3342), Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing (33411)

SIC

Computer Communications Equipment (3576)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Networking for Clusters (InfiniBand/Ethernet/RDMA) (HDAAAAAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Network Hardware Components (ASICs/NICs/Transceivers) (HDABAFAN), AI Interconnects & Fabric (NVLink/CXL/PCIe/Switches) (HDAAAAAD), Embedded & Industrial Network Interfaces (PCIe/M.2/SOM/SoC NICs) (HDAFAEAI)

Keywords

• Open networking solutions
• Data center switches
• Network operating systems
• AI compute networking
• Campus network switches

Headquarters

HQ city

Suzhou

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Network Hardware Sales: Sale of proprietary and open network switches (CX-N, CX-M series), DPU smart network cards (Helium series), and open intelligent gateway platforms (ET series). Hardware forms the primary revenue stream.
2. Network Operating System Software: AsterNOS and FusionNOS network operating systems, available as enterprise SONiC distributions. Revenue from software licensing, support subscriptions, and software updates.
3. Professional Services: Technical support, deployment services, and customization services for enterprise customers. Includes strategic customer on-site services mentioned in EasyRoCE toolkit offerings.
4. EasyRoCE Toolkit: Free toolkit with continuous iteration for RoCE network deployment and monitoring. Premium features, customization, and parameter tuning services available for strategic customers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Asterfusion designs, manufactures, and sells open networking infrastructure for AI compute centers, cloud data centers, and enterprise campuses. Its portfolio spans ultra-low latency Ethernet switches (100G-800G with RoCEv2), a SONiC-based AsterNOS network operating system, DPU-based Helium smart network cards, ET series open smart gateway platforms, the EasyRoCE automation toolkit for AI/HPC network deployment, NPB network visualization, and an ACC campus network controller. Products are sold to enterprises, internet/data center operators, telecom carriers, and public-sector customers primarily in China.

Product overview

Asterfusion (星融元) is an open network architecture solutions provider offering a modular product portfolio centered on AsterNOS network operating system. The portfolio spans AI/HPC data center switches (CX-N Series: 100G-800G including CX864E-N and CX732Q-N), cloud campus switches (CX-M Series), open hardware platforms (Helium DPU network cards, ET Series smart gateways, X-T Series P4 programmable platforms), and add-on solutions (EasyRoCE Toolkit for AI infrastructure automation, NPB 2.0 network visualization, ACC campus controller). AsterNOS serves as the unified software foundation across multiple hardware form factors, enabling consistent open network capabilities from 800G data center switches to enterprise edge gateways.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AsterNOS: Enterprise-grade SONiC-based network operating system supporting open network ecosystems, flexible delivery models, and third-party application integration.
• EasyRoCE
• Helium DPU
• CX-N Series
• CX-M Series

Products and services

• CX-N Series Ultra-Low Latency Cloud Switch Asterfusion's self-developed data center switches providing ultra-low latency for AI/ML compute clusters, HPC, distributed storage, and cloud data center networks. Supports 100G to 800G speeds with RoCEv2 lossless Ethernet; models include CX864E-N (64x800GE), CX732Q-N (32x400GE), CX664D-N (64x200GE), CX564P-N (64x100GE), CX532P-N, and CX308P-48Y-N.
• CX-M Series Cloud Campus Switch Next-generation cloud campus network switches running AsterNOS open network OS with Spine-Leaf architecture and full Layer 3 networking. Eliminates broadcast storms without stacking, supports automated deployment via configuration templates, and provides open RESTful APIs. Models include CX204Y-24GT-MS, CX204Y-48GT-MS, CX204Y-48GT-MC, CX206P-24S-M, CX206P-48S-M, and CX206Y-48GT-M.
• AsterNOS Network Operating System Enterprise-grade SONiC distribution with containerized architecture supporting Marvell, Intel, and Broadcom chip platforms. Enables flexible deployment, third-party application integration, RESTful API, gNMI, NetFlow/IPFIX, and Ansible automation. Available as enterprise software licensing with support subscriptions.
• Helium DPU Smart Network Card High-performance DPU-based intelligent network card with 24-core ARM processor integrating network, computing, and storage acceleration. Models include Helium EC2004Y (4x25GE) and Helium EC2002P (2x100GE). Supports OVS offload, SSL encryption, 5G UPF, SPDK storage acceleration. Open-source components available on GitHub.
• ET Series Open Smart Gateway Platform Compute-network convergence open intelligent gateway platforms including ET2500 (8-core ARM64 Neoverse N2, half-rack width, 60Gbps throughput), ET3600 (full-rack higher capacity with 2/4x10GE and 2/4x100GE ports), and ET3000A. Supports standard Linux, VPP, DPDK, and various open software ecosystems. Can serve as router, firewall, VPN gateway, IDS/IPS, load balancer, and network traffic analyzer.
• EasyRoCE Toolkit Comprehensive suite of tools for AI/HPC RoCE network deployment and operations including AID (AI Infrastructure Descriptor), ORD (One-click RoCE Deployment), PPD (Proactive Path Definer), IRM (In-node Route Map), RTR (Real-time Traffic Reporter), EPS (E2E Path Scheduler), MVD (Multi-Tenant VPC Deployer), CMA (Congestion Monitoring & Alert), UG (Unified Glancer monitoring dashboard), and integrations with Prometheus, Grafana, NVIDIA NCCL, and DCBX. Premium services available for strategic customers.
• NPB 2.0 Network Visualization Containerized Network Packet Broker (NPB) solution running as AsterNOS-PB inside SONiC switches. Supports port mirroring, TCP reassembly, packet truncation, data masking, and timestamp addition. Inline-Bypass mechanism ensures high reliability for inline deployment with hardware-level path switching.
• ACC Campus Network Controller Lightweight campus network controller for next-generation cloud campus networks. Supports automatic device onboarding, policy centralized deployment, real-time monitoring, and OAuth authentication integration.
• X-T Series P4 Programmable Platform Computing-network convergence platform for cloud network intelligent gateways, SmartToR, and NFV applications. Features industry-leading computing-network convergence architecture with full-stack programmability and intelligent service processing capabilities.
• CX-T Series P4 Programmable Switch P4 programmable switches for custom data plane processing and network innovation. Supports flexible protocol development and custom forwarding logic.
• FusionNOS Network Operating System Smart visualization-focused network OS for ARM/x86 platforms enabling deep service processing on visualization frontend devices with open and decoupled deployment options.
• PX-T Series Network Visualization Switch Network visibility switches supporting 1G-800G for traffic capture and analysis. Enables inline monitoring and bypass deployment for security requirements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 70% cost reduction vs InfiniBand while maintaining Ethernet compatibility
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• DaoCloud (道客网络)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 August 2025DaoCloud (上海道客网络科技有限公司) and Asterfusion signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly build open computing infrastructure solutions, addressing bottlenecks in computing power supply and network transmission for large computing centers. DaoCloud's container cloud platform combined with Asterfusion's open network solutions enables efficient and open computing cluster construction.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Edgecore Networks: Accton subsidiary and the most prominent open-networking/SONiC white-box switch vendor globally. Edgecore ships OCP-compliant switches running SONiC and other NOS options, directly competing with Asterfusion's CX-N series in the same hyperscale and AI cluster buyer base.
• Wistron: Taiwanese ODM shipping white-box and SONiC-based switches for hyperscalers and AI cluster builders. Direct competitor in the open networking space, often partnering with NOS vendors similar to Asterfusion's AsterNOS model.

Broad incumbents

• Arista Networks: Dominant Ethernet networking vendor for hyperscale and AI/HPC data centers, with the 7800R3/7700R4 series and EOS. Competes with Asterfusion in large AI cluster fabrics and cloud data centers, though with proprietary silicon ties (Broadcom Tomahawk) and a much broader portfolio.
• NVIDIA: Owner of Mellanox/InfiniBand — the incumbent Asterfusion explicitly targets to displace — and the Spectrum-X Ethernet AI platform. Competes head-to-head in AI fabric deals with the dual threat of GPU bundling and tightly integrated networking software.
• Cisco Systems: Incumbent data center switching vendor (Nexus 9000, Silicon One) and enterprise campus leader (Catalyst). Competes broadly across both Asterfusion's AI fabric and cloud campus segments, with significant Chinese market presence through partnerships.
• Huawei: Dominant Chinese networking and ICT vendor with CloudEngine data center switches and a full AI cluster solution. Competes across Asterfusion's entire China portfolio with bundled compute, storage, and networking offerings.

Emerging players

• Celestica: ODM with a strong portfolio of open networking switches for hyperscale and AI customers, including SONiC-ready platforms. Competes with Asterfusion on the hardware side for white-box AI fabric deals.

Regional players

• New H3C (H3C): Major Chinese enterprise and data center networking vendor (Unisplendour/New H3C Group). Direct domestic competitor to Asterfusion's CX-M campus and CX-N data center lines, with established channels across Chinese enterprises, government, and telecom operators.
• Ruijie Networks: Chinese enterprise networking vendor with strong presence in campus and data center switching. Directly comparable to Asterfusion's CX-M and CX-N product lines in the China enterprise and education markets.

Others

• Marvell Technology: Supplier of the Teralynx and OCTEON silicon platforms that power Asterfusion's CX-N switches and ET gateways. While not a direct competitor, Marvell's roadmap and pricing decisions are a key dependency for Asterfusion's product economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/asterfusion

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Asterfusion