Netronome Systems

The company operates in the data center infrastructure market, catering to cloud data centers, enterprises, and tier-one service providers. Its business model revolves around selling silicon accelerators, known as Smart Network Interface Cards (SmartNICs), and related software. Netronome also licenses its technology as hardened IP blocks for customers to build custom System-on-a-Chip (SoC) devices. The company has secured significant funding over several rounds, with investors including Intel Capital, Sourcefire, and 3i Group.

Netronome's core product is the Agilio platform of SmartNICs. These products are designed to offload networking and security processing from a server's main CPU. Key features include accelerating virtual switching and routing, connection tracking, and handling virtual network functions. By moving these tasks to the SmartNIC, server CPUs are freed up to run more applications, which can increase the number of virtual machines per server and improve overall data center efficiency. The Agilio SmartNICs support various network speeds, such as 10GbE, 25GbE, and 40GbE, and are programmable using languages like P4, C, and eBPF. A notable milestone for the company was its strategic relationship with Intel, which involved a technology licensing agreement in 2007 for the Intel IXP28XX product line and a later deal to manufacture its processors on Intel's 22-nm process.