Certeon

About Certeon

Founded in 2003, Certeon, Inc. was a technology company based in Burlington, Massachusetts, that specialized in wide area network (WAN) optimization and application acceleration. The company operated in the enterprise software and cybersecurity sectors, providing solutions to improve application response times over networks. In May 2012, Massood Zarrabian, who had over 30 years of experience in the technology industry, including a successful tenure as President and CEO of OutStart, was appointed as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. His appointment coincided with a new $4 million funding round to advance research, development, and sales.

Certeon's business model focused on delivering software-based solutions that eliminated network constraints for enterprises, giving users a local area network (LAN)-like experience even when accessing applications and data from remote locations or the cloud. The company's product line included the aCelera Virtual Appliance, aCelera for Windows Server, and aCelera Mobile, which were designed to speed up application traffic for major enterprise systems like Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. A key differentiator for Certeon was its ability to accelerate encrypted SSL traffic, a significant challenge for many WAN optimization controllers at the time. The offerings were hypervisor and hardware agnostic, providing flexibility and scalability for virtualized environments. Certeon's clients included prominent organizations such as Aviva plc, the Omnicom Group, WaterAid, and LeapFrog.

Over its lifetime, Certeon raised a total of $25 million in funding over three rounds from investors including Sigma Partners, Globespan Capital Partners, and RRE Ventures. The company's first funding round occurred in 2004, and its final Series B round was in May 2012. Ultimately, Certeon was acquired by Array Networks as part of a strategy to cater to price-sensitive customers. The company is now considered deadpooled.