Sylva Project

What Sylva Project does

Sylva Project is an open-source, production-grade telco cloud framework hosted as the first project of Linux Foundation Europe and headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Founded in November 2022 by Europe's leading telecom operators (Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, TIM) together with network function providers (Nokia, Ericsson), Sylva provides a vendor-neutral cloud software stack for hosting 5G Core, Open RAN, CDN, and edge workloads. The framework is built on Kubernetes and integrates Cluster API for multi-cluster lifecycle management, FluxCD for GitOps, Metal3/CAPM3 for bare-metal provisioning, and supports multiple certified Kubernetes distributions including RKE2, Canonical Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, and Vanilla Kubernetes. Differentiated components include Host Based Routing (HBR), developed by Deutsche Telekom and in production since 2022 across 300+ bare-metal clusters, and a Validation Center operating 8 platforms that has certified 20 cloud-native network functions (CNFs).

Sylva's business model is nonprofit and community-funded: the project does not sell software, and there is no commercial product to purchase. Revenue consists of sponsor membership fees (Premier and General tiers) paid by operators, vendors, and cloud providers into the Sylva Fund under Linux Foundation Europe. There are no public price lists and no equity ownership structure. Governance is exercised through a Governing Board and a Technical Steering Committee (TSC) staffed by representatives from founding carriers and vendor members. Distribution occurs through public GitLab repositories, partner Kubernetes distributions, the Validation Center certification program, and event-driven community engagement (KubeCon, Open Source Summit, Sylva Dev Day, Sylva Summit Europe).

As of late 2025, Sylva reported 35 contributing companies, 16 financial sponsor companies, deployments in 10+ countries, an 18-month production track record, and validated CNFs running on Orange Telco Cloud across 18 affiliates. Additional product modules include a Green Dashboard for energy observability (using Kepler), an AI-powered RCA Agent for cluster debugging, and a Plakar-based sovereign backup integration. Headcount is reported at 11–50, consistent with a Linux Foundation directed fund rather than a commercial software vendor.

Name

Sylva Project

Legal name

Sylva Project

Website

https://sylvaproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Telco Cloud Infrastructure

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computer Facilities Management Services (541513)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) & Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) (HDAIAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual & Cloud Routing (vRouters/CNF Routing) (HDAFABAF), Cloud Networking & Virtual Networking (VPC/VNet) (HDABAFAG)

Keywords

• Telco cloud framework
• Kubernetes orchestration
• Cloud native infrastructure
• Open source telco
• Edge cloud platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsor Membership Fees: Sylva is a Linux Foundation Europe directed fund project. It is sustained by financial sponsorships from operators, vendors, and cloud providers. There are Premier and General membership tiers. Revenue is not generated from product sales; the project does not sell software directly.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Sylva is an open-source, production-grade telco cloud framework that provides telecommunications operators with a unified Kubernetes-based platform for deploying and managing Cloud Native Network Functions (CNFs). The framework delivers multi-cluster lifecycle management via Cluster API, GitOps-driven workload operations via FluxCD, support for multiple Kubernetes distributions, bare-metal provisioning, advanced networking including Host Based Routing, energy observability, and a Validation Center that certifies CNFs and platform integrations. It is offered free of charge and sustained through sponsor memberships from operators, vendors, and cloud providers.

Product overview

Sylva Project is a cloud-native software framework providing a unified platform for telecom and edge infrastructure. The core Sylva offering includes the Cluster Manager for declarative Kubernetes lifecycle management, integrated GitOps automation via FluxCD, multi-distribution support (RKE2, Canonical Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift), and infrastructure provider integration (OpenStack, vSphere, OpenNebula, Bare Metal). The platform is complemented by the Green Dashboard for energy efficiency monitoring and the AI RCA Agent for automated debugging. A validation program ensures certified integrations meet quality standards across networking, storage, and infrastructure layers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sylva Cloud Framework Open-source, production-grade telco cloud framework for deploying and managing Kubernetes clusters and Cloud Native Network Functions, providing infrastructure integration, GitOps automation via FluxCD, lifecycle management, security hardening, and observability for telecom and edge deployments.
• Sylva v1.4 Feature release of the Sylva cloud framework introducing Host Based Routing capability for improved traffic management and network automation from inside Kubernetes.
• Sylva v1.5 Feature release of the Sylva cloud framework introducing multi-distribution Kubernetes support with certified integrations including RKE2, Canonical Kubernetes, and Red Hat OpenShift.
• Sylva v1.6.0 Major version release of the Sylva cloud framework with Kubernetes 1.33 compatibility and production-grade cloud stack capabilities.
• Sylva Validation Program (Validation Center) Quality assurance framework operated by the Sylva Validation Center (WG02) that validates Kubernetes distributions, CNIs, storage solutions, CNFs, and infrastructure providers for compatibility and reliability against the Sylva framework, providing operators with a pre-validated ecosystem and vendors with a shared certification target. The program operates 8 validation platforms and has validated 20 network functions as of November 2025.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 55% reduction in server requirements and 30% reduction in operational costs for Orange Telco Cloud deployments
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration25 records

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered general and core.

• PlakargeneralTechnology or Integration · 2 July 2026Plakar joined Sylva to provide zero-knowledge, deduplicating backup and recoverability capabilities. Plakar's Kloset technology provides immutable, queryable, sovereign backup integrated into the Sylva stack. Founded by OpenSMTPD creator Gilles Chehade and former Veepee CTPO Julien Mangeard.
• NokiacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding member of the Sylva project under an MoU. Nokia, as a major network function provider, contributed to defining the cloud software framework requirements for telco and edge use cases and participates in the Technical Steering Committee.
• EricssoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding member alongside Nokia. Ericsson contributed network function provider requirements and continues to participate in TSC and working groups. Ericsson Software Technology is active in bare-metal/Kubernetes management discussions.
• TelefonicacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding carrier member. Telefonica contributes via its Global Technology team, participates in TSC (Luis Velarde Tazón), and has contributed technical deep dives on infrastructure architecture and CNF validation.
• VodafonecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding carrier member contributing telco and edge requirements. Nikoleta Patroni represents Vodafone on the TSC. Vodafone participates in roadmap definition and validation program activities.
• Deutsche Telekom AGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding carrier member. Deutsche Telekom developed Host Based Routing (HBR), which has been in production since 2022 across 300+ bare-metal clusters. Kai Steuernagel represents DT on the Governing Board.
• OrangecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding carrier member and active contributor. Orange Telco Cloud (OTC) runs on Sylva across 18 affiliates. Guillaume Nevicato serves as TSC Co-Chair, and Philippe Ensarguet serves on the Governing Board. Orange has contributed GitOps, immutable OS, and sustainability work.
• TIM (Telecom Italia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 November 2022Founding carrier member. TIM joined as a Premier sponsor in July 2025 reinforcing its leadership role. Carlo Cavazzoni serves as TSC Co-Chair. TIM coordinates contributions from its Transport and Access Innovation department and IPCEI CIS project activities.
• SUSEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSUSE participates in the Governing Board (Tim Irnich) and contributes actively to working groups WG01 (Cloud Stack Development) and WG04 (Sustainability). SUSE's Adaptive Telco Infrastructure Platform (ATIP) integrates with the Sylva framework. SUSE Edge and Leap Micro OS are validated within the Sylva stack.
• Red HatcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRed Hat participates via the Governing Board (Hanen Garcia) and contributes to WG04 Sustainability (Huamin Chen). Red Hat OpenShift achieved Sylva 1.5 compliance, providing a validated Kubernetes distribution for Sylva deployments. Red Hat also contributes to supply chain security aligned with OpenSSF.
• CanonicalgeneralStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanonical joined as a technology partner contributing Canonical Kubernetes support. Sylva V1.5 added Canonical Kubernetes as a validated Kubernetes distribution, with Canonical publishing a joint announcement titled 'Bringing Canonical Kubernetes to Sylva: A New Chapter for European Telco Clouds'.
• 6WINDgeneralStrategic or Co-development Partner6WIND is collaborating with Sylva on extending Host Based Routing across the ecosystem, alongside Orange and Deutsche Telekom. 6WIND contributes to network function integration and routing performance optimization.
• OpenNebulageneralTechnology or IntegrationOpenNebula was added as a new infrastructure provider in Sylva V1.5, joining Bare Metal, OpenStack, and vSphere. OpenNebula participates in the Cloud IPCEI Telco & Edge Cloud Cluster alongside Sylva.
• Cloud Native Telecom Initiative (CNTi)generalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNTi collaborates with Sylva on translating the NGMN Cloud Native Manifesto into practical, testable criteria. The partnership bridges general cloud-native standards and Sylva-specific telco requirements, with Sylva participating in Cloud Native Telco Day co-located with KubeCon.
• NFVi / Anuket (LSO)generalTechnology or IntegrationSylva is a production-grade cloud framework compliant with Anuket Reference Architecture (RA2) and conformance test suites (RC2). Sylva does not duplicate Anuket but leverages it, contributing specific extensions back when needed.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Project_Sylva
• GitHubgitlab.com/sylva-projects
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project-sylva

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Sylva Project