The rapid buildout of GPU-powered data centers is shifting attention beyond compute hardware toward the software responsible for connecting thousands of accelerated systems. As AI infrastructure expands, networking automation has become an increasingly critical layer for operators attempting to deploy clusters faster while reducing operational complexity. Santa Clara-based Netris is positioning itself to address that challenge after securing fresh growth capital to expand its platform and global footprint. The company announced on June 25 that it has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
The new investment will support expansion across engineering, commercial operations and strategic ecosystem partnerships while also funding the launch of a new office in Singapore. The move reflects growing demand for infrastructure software as AI cloud providers race to deploy increasingly larger GPU environments. Netris has focused its business on simplifying the networking operations required to run these large AI clusters at scale. The latest funding signals investor confidence that networking software is becoming an essential component of next-generation AI infrastructure.
Automation Targets One of AI Data Centers’ Most Complex Operational Challenges
Deploying thousands of GPUs inside modern AI facilities requires more than compute capacity alone. Operators must configure complex networking environments capable of delivering consistent high-performance communication between accelerators without creating operational bottlenecks. Manual deployment processes often require highly specialized networking teams, increasing both implementation time and operating costs for cloud providers. Netris addresses this challenge through its Network Automation, Abstraction, and Multi-Tenancy (NAAM) platform, which automates network deployment and ongoing management across large-scale AI environments. Rather than relying on extensive manual configuration, the software enables operators to provision networking infrastructure with significantly greater efficiency. As a result, organizations can accelerate AI cluster deployment while reducing the engineering effort traditionally associated with large networking environments. The platform is designed specifically for GPU-centric infrastructure rather than conventional enterprise networking deployments.
One of the platform’s primary differentiators is its ability to manage multiple networking technologies within the same infrastructure deployment. Modern AI environments increasingly combine Ethernet and InfiniBand fabrics depending on workload requirements, making centralized automation increasingly valuable as deployments expand. Netris enables operators to automate both networking environments from a unified software platform. The platform also incorporates multi-tenancy capabilities that allow cloud providers to isolate customer workloads across shared infrastructure. This separation has become increasingly important as specialized AI cloud providers expand their customer bases while maintaining performance and security requirements. Multi-tenant automation reduces operational overhead while allowing infrastructure operators to efficiently allocate networking resources across multiple organizations. These capabilities are becoming more relevant as GPU infrastructure continues evolving into shared cloud environments.
NVIDIA Validation Strengthens Position in AI Networking Ecosystem
Netris said it is the first independent software vendor validated by NVIDIA for AI network automation, providing additional credibility within one of the fastest-growing segments of AI infrastructure. Validation from a major GPU ecosystem participant may help accelerate adoption among organizations building large AI clusters that require highly optimized networking operations. The milestone also reflects increasing industry recognition that networking automation has become a strategic layer alongside compute and storage. Chief Executive Officer Alex Saroyan brings more than 25 years of networking industry experience to the company, including previous leadership roles at Cisco and Ruckus. His background aligns closely with the company’s focus on solving operational networking challenges created by large-scale AI deployments. Under his leadership, Netris has concentrated on software built specifically for GPU-driven environments rather than adapting legacy enterprise networking products. That specialization has become one of the company’s primary competitive strengths.
The planned Singapore office represents Netris’ first major expansion initiative outside North America and underscores the company’s broader international ambitions. Asia continues to emerge as one of the fastest-growing regions for AI infrastructure investment, with governments, cloud providers and enterprises accelerating deployment of GPU capacity. Establishing a regional presence positions the company closer to customers building new AI infrastructure across Asia-Pacific markets. The expansion follows a period of significant commercial momentum. Netris reported annual recurring revenue growth of 800% over the past year while capturing a 12% share of the neo-cloud market based on cluster count. The neo-cloud segment consists of specialized AI cloud providers developing GPU-first infrastructure for enterprise AI workloads as customers increasingly diversify beyond traditional hyperscale cloud platforms. Meanwhile, continued growth across this market creates additional opportunities for infrastructure software vendors focused exclusively on AI operations.
Specialized AI Networking Becomes a Competitive Advantage
Unlike traditional networking platforms designed for broad enterprise environments, Netris has concentrated exclusively on the operational requirements of AI infrastructure. GPU clusters generate unique networking demands that require high-performance communication, rapid deployment cycles and scalable automation capabilities. Purpose-built networking software is increasingly viewed as an important enabler for organizations deploying AI at industrial scale. As AI infrastructure investment accelerates worldwide, software that simplifies network provisioning and operations is expected to become a larger part of the digital infrastructure stack. While GPUs continue attracting most investment attention, networking automation is emerging as a foundational technology supporting the efficient deployment and management of AI computing environments. Netris’ latest funding round positions the company to expand alongside the next wave of specialized AI cloud infrastructure while strengthening its presence in an increasingly competitive market.
