”Easy to deploy hyperscale automation” gets a bigger canvas – Robin.io CEO
Rakuten Symphony has announced plans to acquire cloud software maker Robin.io. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Rakuten noted that Robin.io CEO Partha Seetala will take up the position of president of the Unified Cloud business unit of Rakuten Symphony. Robin.io makes cloud software for enterprises and telcos, with a specialty in Kubernetes-based cloud-native 5G app containerization, management and orchestration.
Robin.io’s products apps include cloud app lifecycle management, data management and metal-to-service data center orchestration and automation for enterprises and telcos, including network functions, RAN, packet core and MEC.
The news comes as part of a working relationship with the two companies that’s already more than two years old. Rakuten enlisted Robin.io’s help to develop its greenfield 5G network. And in 2021 Robin.io raised US$38 million in Series C funding, led by Rakuten Capital.
“The addition of Robin.io’s multi-cloud mobility, hyper automation and orchestration capabilities to the Rakuten Symphony portfolio allows the creation of highly efficient, consistent high performance cloud infrastructure and operations, from edge to central data center,” said Rakuten Symphony in a company statement.
Tareq Amin, CEO of Rakuten Symphony, said in a statement that carrier edge cloud requirements are unique. This requires exceptional performance, responsiveness and consistency from its orchestration software.
“Robin.io’s cloud capability is proven to be effective for the most demanding workloads in mobile and we believe it will allow Rakuten Symphony to safely accelerate cloud-native transformation for our customers and prepare the industry for the future,” said Amin.
’A bigger canvas’ for Kubernetes-based automation
Partha Seetala, Robin.io’s CEO and newly-minted Rakuten head of Unified Cloud business, sees this move as key to getting Robin.io’s technology into wider adoption.
“I am delighted that Robin.io’s technology innovations over the last several years will now get a much bigger canvas to lead the vision for cloud-native transformation for the industry. Our vision to deliver simple to use, easy to deploy hyperscale automation is very well aligned,” said Seetala.
Rakuten Symphony recently announced a European expansion that will see new operations in the U.K., France, and Germany. Rakuten is expanding operations “to strengthen our research and development capabilities and our commitment to the region,” said Amin.
Qualcomm and Rakuten Symphony recently announced that are working on massive MIMO radio units (RUs) and distributed units (DUs) built on Qualcomm silicon. The goal is to first deploy the new tech in Rakuten Mobile’s network in Japan and then sell them as part of Rakuten Symphony’s Symware portfolio. Sampling will start in the middle of 2022, followed by general availability around Q2 of 2023.
