Sam Altman-backed network infrastructure startup Meter raises $170M – News

Meter Inc., a startup that helps companies build corporate networks, has raised $170 million in funding from a group of prominent investors.

General Catalyst led the round. Meter detailed in its announcement of the deal today that Baillie Gifford, J.P. Morgan, Microsoft Corp. and Sequoia Capital participated as well along with a number of other investors. Meter previously raised about $145 million in funding from a consortium that included OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. 

When a company opens a new office, its information technology team has to connect the facility to the corporate network. The task involves a significant amount of work. Administrators must determine what network equipment should be installed in the new office, deploy it and then connect the facility to other corporate locations. Meter promises to automate the task for its customers.

The San Francisco-based company sells a portfolio of internally developed networking devices. It offers switches, access points for providing wireless connectivity to workers and PDUs. A PDU, or power distribution unit, is a device that help reduce the number of power cables necessary to support network equipment. It doubles as an observability tool that can monitor metrics such as a switch’s temperature and electricity usage.

Alongside its networking equipment, Meter sells cybersecurity appliances. The devices filter malicious traffic and provide VPN, or virtual private network, features that allow workers to remotely log into business applications. According to Meter, its appliances can also isolate IT systems from one another to prevent the spread of any malware that may enter a corporate network.

The company not only supplies customers with networking equipment but also installs it on their behalf. Furthermore, Meter can manage the broadband plans that an enterprise purchases from internet providers. Those internet providers’ infrastructure is used to provide network connectivity between corporate locations.

The company provides a software platform that automatically fixes common technical issues. If an internet provider on which a company relies to link together its offices experiences technical issues, the software can switch to another provider. It also remediates wireless connectivity issues. When an access point goes offline, the software boosts the signal strength of the nearest working access point.

Meter is currently developing an artificial intelligence model that will allow it to automate more troubleshooting tasks. According to the company, the algorithm features billions of parameters and uses technical data collected from its network infrastructure. It’s training it using tens of thousands of graphics cards supplied by Microsoft, one of the investors in its latest funding round.  

The networking provider detailed on occasion of the investment that its technology has been adopted by Lyft Inc., Reddit Inc. and other high-profile customers. According to the New York Times, Meter will use the capital to drive adoption of its hardware in data centers. The company also plans to grow its international presence. 

Image: Meter