Hammerhead Systems

About Hammerhead Systems

Hammerhead Systems, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, operated in the telecommunications sector, providing Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Ethernet aggregation and switching solutions. The company's offerings were targeted at business services, residential broadband, and wireless backhaul markets.

The primary products offered by Hammerhead Systems were the HSX 6000 and the Pegador SOA EMS. The HSX 6000 was a hardware solution that facilitated the aggregation, interworking, and migration of various access protocols across different core infrastructures. Complementing this was the Pegador SOA EMS, an element management system that provided Web services through XML/SOAP.

The company was founded by Rob Keil. Throughout its operation, Hammerhead Systems managed to raise a total of $73 million in funding over four rounds, with significant investments from firms like Pequot Capital Management, Mayfield, Foundation Capital, and Apex Venture Partners. Its last funding was a Series D round on August 1, 2007, which raised $18 million. On May 21, 2009, Hammerhead Systems filed a voluntary petition for liquidation under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

It is important to distinguish Hammerhead Systems, the networking solutions provider, from other entities with similar names. These include Hammerhead Networks, a Billerica-based company acquired by Cisco in 2002; Hammerhead, a company focused on smart bike navigation systems founded in 2012; and Hammerhead Warehouse Systems, which provides storage and racking solutions.