PALO ALTO, CA — (Marketwired) — 11/22/16 — Following closely on its June of the first-ever fully user-programmable switching chips, Barefoot Networks today announced an additional investment of $23 million, led by Alibaba and Tencent as part of the company–s Series C round, bringing total Series C investment to $80 million and total investment in Barefoot to over $150 million. Barefoot–s Tofino chip is on track for delivery to customers at the end of Q4, 2016.
“Tencent is delighted to join hands with Barefoot as it goes to market with technology destined to make profound advancements in the ways networks are designed, built and run,” said Tom Bie, VP of Technology and Engineering Group, , a leading provider of Internet value-added services in China. “Barefoot gives network operators the ultimate freedom to create the network they want, rather than designing around limitations of available technology. We–re excited to see innovation of this scope come to the market.”
“Barefoot–s unveiling of Tofino in June signaled the beginning of the end for the –fixed-function– switching chips that have dominated the networking landscape since their introduction in the –90s,” said Martin Izzard, CEO and co-founder, Barefoot Networks. “Venture firms, network operators and networking equipment leaders alike seized on this breakthrough, and their support of Barefoot has been unprecedented. We–re extremely gratified to be working with communications companies with the scope, reach and reputation of Alibaba and Tencent.”
Systems built using Tofino will enable Barefoot customers and partners to specify the desired packet processing behavior in the devices on their networks — down to the packets flowing on the wire. Barefoot was first to announce this achievement when it launched in June 2016, and today is the only company to hold that distinction. Tofino, which processes data at 6.5 terabits/second, is also the fastest switching chip ever built.
Barefoot–s Tofino chip will be sampling in December, 2016.
Tencent Holdings Limited, an investment holding company, provides Internet and mobile value-added services (VAS), online advertising services, and e-commerce transactions services to users in the People–s Republic of China, the United States, Europe, and internationally. For more information, visit
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates as an online and mobile commerce company in the People–s Republic of China and internationally. The company provides its solutions primarily for businesses. Alibaba Group Holding Limited was founded in 1999 and is based in Hangzhou, the People–s Republic of China. For more information, visit
Barefoot Networks launched in 2016 after two years of developing the most programmable and — at 6.5 terabits/second — the fastest switches ever built; twice as fast as any previous chip on record. By enabling organizations to define the network data plane in software, Barefoot empowers network owners and their infrastructure partners to design, optimize, and innovate to meet their specific requirements and gain competitive advantage. In combining the P4 open-source programming language with fast programmable switches, Barefoot has also created an ecosystem of compilers, tools, and P4 code to make P4 accessible to anybody. Barefoot–s founders — Nick McKeown, Martin Izzard, Pat Bosshart, and Dan Lenoski — bring the company more than 100 years of experience in building the fastest and biggest networking systems in the world. Backed by Google Inc., Goldman Sachs Principal Strategic Investments, Alibaba, Tencent and premier venture capital firms Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Andreessen Horowitz, Barefoot Networks is headquartered in Silicon Valley. For more information, visit . Follow us on Twitter: @barefootnetwork
Gary Good
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