AmLight

Name

AmLight

Legal name

Florida International University Board of Trustees / AmLight

Website

https://amlight.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research and Education Network Infrastructure

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Computer Communications Equipment (3576), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Network Backbone & Core IP Transport (Long-Haul/Metro IP) (HDAIAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cross-Border Terrestrial Fiber Corridors & International Terrestrial Gateways (HDAIALAH)

Keywords

• Research and education networking
• International network infrastructure
• Software-defined networking
• High-performance scientific networking
• Transoceanic bandwidth services

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. NSF Research Funding: AmLight is funded primarily through National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure awards including #2537489 and #2029283. The project receives additional contributions from partner organizations including ANSP (FAPESP), RNP (Brazilian MCTI), and other regional research networks.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

AmLight operates an international research and education network providing high-performance, terabit-scale connectivity between the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Africa using a hybrid Express (optical spectrum) and Protect (leased capacity) architecture. The network delivers dedicated bandwidth, software-defined programmability via the Kytos-ng SDN controller, and distributed Open Exchange Points (AtlanticWave-SDX) for programmable L2VPN provisioning and network telemetry supporting data-intensive scientific projects including the Vera Rubin Observatory, CERN, and the Square Kilometer Array.

Product overview

AmLight (Americas Lightpaths) operates as a unified research and education network infrastructure portfolio consisting of multiple interconnected components. The core AmLight Network Infrastructure provides foundational high-performance connectivity between the U.S., Latin America, Caribbean, and South Africa. Built upon this are the AmLight Express and Protect (ExP) hybrid network strategy combining optical spectrum and leased capacity, AtlanticWave-SDX software-defined exchange for programmable L2VPN provisioning and flow analytics, and SDN AmLight/Kytos-ng for network programmability. Additional offerings include AmLight-INT for international research connections, OpenWave for optical spectrum services, and dedicated Vera Rubin Observatory network support. These products work together to deliver terabit-scale bandwidth, dynamic provisioning, and network observability for data-intensive scientific workflows across distributed global research infrastructure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AmLight-INT: AmLight Intercontinental network infrastructure project for international research and education connectivity.
• AmLight ExP
• AtlanticWave-SDX
• OpenWave

Products and services

• AmLight Network Infrastructure International research and education network providing high-performance network connectivity between the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Africa. Supports optical spectrum and leased capacity for leading-edge network infrastructure enabling scientific collaboration.
• AmLight Express and Protect (ExP) Hybrid network strategy combining optical spectrum (Express) and leased capacity (Protect) for reliable, leading-edge network infrastructure for research and education. Provides high-throughput consortium-funded network connectivity between the U.S., South America, and Africa with terabit-scale aggregate capacity.
• AtlanticWave-SDX Distributed Software Defined Exchange (SDX) providing programmable L2VPN provisioning, flow analytics, and network telemetry. Integrates with SENSE Orchestrator and FABRIC testbed to enable dynamic intercontinental network resource provisioning across Open Exchange Points in the U.S., Chile, Brazil, and South Africa.
• AmLight-INT International research network connection initiative supporting advanced cyberinfrastructure and programmable networking for science collaborations between U.S. and international research communities.
• OpenWave Wave-based optical networking project enabling advanced optical spectrum services for research and education network connectivity.
• SDN AmLight / Kytos-ng Controller Software-Defined Networking infrastructure controlled by AmLight's Kytos-ng SDN controller, enabling network experimentation, flexible forwarding pipelines, dynamic provisioning, complex pathfinding, per-packet network programmability, and telemetry.
• Vera Rubin Observatory Network Support Dedicated long-haul network infrastructure connecting the NSF-funded Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile to the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Illinois. AmLight deploys multiple 100G links from Miami to Fortaleza, São Paulo, and Santiago to support the Observatory's data transfer needs of 13GB of astronomical images every 27 seconds.

Quantifiable outcome

• Delivers 1.5+ Tbps of bidirectional traffic from Latin America to conference venues
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Florida International University (FIU) / CIARAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2020AmLight is based at FIU's Center for Internet Augmented Research and Assessment (CIARA) in the Division of IT. CIARA provides operational infrastructure and staff for AmLight network operations.
• AtlanticWave-SDXcoreTechnology or IntegrationDistributed intercontinental Software Defined Exchange project providing programmable networking across Open Exchange Points in U.S., Chile, Brazil, and South Africa. Integrated with SENSE orchestrator for dynamic provisioning.
• RedCLARAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional Network of Latin America connecting 14 Latin American countries. Provides regional interconnection and international links supporting AmLight connectivity across Latin America.
• RNP (Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrazilian National Education and Research Network operated under MCTI supervision. Provides national backbone connectivity and international links between Brazil and U.S. via AmLight.
• REUNAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNREN of Chile providing network connectivity for Chilean research and education institutions. Hosts SA3CC meetings and provides access to Chilean astronomical observatories.
• SANReN / TENETcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth African National Research Network responsible for design and operation of national and international capacity. Jointly forms South Africa's NREN with TENET for research network connectivity.
• Vera Rubin ObservatorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSF-DOE astronomical observatory in Chile requiring dedicated network connectivity for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. AmLight provides Long-Haul Network for real-time image transfer to NCSA.
• AURA (Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium operating world-class astronomical observatories including Rubin Observatory. Sub-award partner providing network connectivity requirements for astronomy science missions.
• Internet2majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerU.S. research and education network providing connectivity and interconnection services. Helps transport data from AmLight to U.S. research institutions and supercomputing centers.
• Florida LambdaRail (FLR)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlorida research and education network providing high-speed connectivity within Florida, interconnecting with AmLight for U.S. network access.
• ANSP (Academic Network of Sao Paulo)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerState R&E network of Sao Paulo funded by FAPESP. Provides connectivity to 50+ institutions responsible for over 40% of Brazilian science production.
• USC-ISI (Information Sciences Institute)majorTechnology or IntegrationUniversity of Southern California research institute specializing in information processing and communications technologies. Contributes to AmLight network development and research.
• UbuntuNet AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional R&E network for Eastern and Southern Africa working with member NRENs. Collaborates on Pan-African research network connectivity.
• FABRICcoreTechnology or IntegrationNational research platform providing programmable testbed for network experimentation. AtlanticWave-SDX integrates with FABRIC for end-to-end networking workflows and L2VPN provisioning.
• GÉANTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurope's leading research and education network collaboration. Partner in BEAA (Bridging Europe, Africa and the Americas) MoU for mutual backup connectivity and network resilience.
• CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSouth African statutory body hosting SANReN as a business unit. Partner in BEAA collaboration for network resilience across continents.
• BEAA Collaboration PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBridging Europe, Africa and the Americas collaboration formalized through MoU between AmLight/FIU, GÉANT, RedCLARA, RNP, CSIR, TENET, and UbuntuNet Alliance for three-year mutual backup through high-capacity links.
• AMPATHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAMericasPATH - international high-performance research connection point in Miami operated by CIARA. Extends participation to underrepresented groups in Latin America and Caribbean for science and engineering research.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Internet2: U.S. research and education network operator that is a core AmLight partner for transporting data to U.S. research institutions and supercomputing centers. Comparable as a non-profit R&E backbone with overlapping U.S. footprint and similar NSF/government funding base.
• ESnet (Energy Sciences Network): DOE-funded research network that operates high-performance connectivity for U.S. science and integrates with AmLight via the SENSE Orchestrator. Comparable as a U.S. science network with terabit-scale capacity and SDN/SDX programmability.
• GÉANT: Europe's leading R&E network collaboration and BEAA MoU partner providing mutual backup to AmLight. Comparable as a multi-country R&E backbone operator with similar international long-haul transit mandate.
• RedCLARA: Latin American R&E network consortium connecting 14 countries and a BEAA partner to AmLight. Comparable as a regional R&E backbone with overlapping Latin American footprint and similar grant-funded operational model.
• RNP (Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa): Brazilian NREN operated under MCTI, providing the national backbone that AmLight uses to reach Brazilian science institutions. Comparable as a national R&E network with shared customers and coordinated capacity planning.
• REUNA: Chilean NREN hosting SA3CC meetings and providing connectivity to Chilean astronomical observatories including the Rubin Observatory site. Comparable as a partner R&E network with shared astronomy workload.
• SANReN (South African National Research Network): South African NREN jointly operated with TENET, a core AmLight partner serving African connectivity for SKA and other projects. Comparable as a national R&E backbone with similar grant-funded mission.
• UbuntuNet Alliance: Regional R&E network for Eastern and Southern Africa working with member NRENs and a BEAA MoU partner. Comparable as a multi-country R&E backbone serving African research institutions.

Broad incumbents

• CANARIE: Canadian national R&E network with comparable role serving a country's science community and operating programmable backbone infrastructure. Comparable in mission and SDN/SDX adoption but geographically distinct.

Emerging players

• FABRIC: National programmable network testbed that integrates with AtlanticWave-SDX for end-to-end L2VPN workflows. Comparable as an SDN/SDX-enabled network platform serving advanced research, though focused on experimentation rather than production transit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/amlightus
• Facebookfacebook.com/amlightexp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 AmLight