2022 has been an exciting and eventful year for LightRiver. Just on the surface, we’ve worked on the development and launch of new partnerships, won key industry awards, and expanded our team with new and talented industry professionals. Oh, and did we mention our acquisition? Read on for our brief summary of LightRiver’s biggest news and exciting developments throughout the past year!
Grain’s Acquisition of LightRiver
In April, LightRiver Technologies & Software entities got a major boost when Grain Management, LLC, an investment firm dedicated to broadband technology and the global communications sector, acquired our company. As a company that strongly prioritizes connectivity, Grain’s support opens new opportunities for LightRiver to grow our market and technology leadership while continuing to provide excellent service to customers and partners. This move is set to bring great benefits to our team and key markets.
The Addition of Key Leadership
In June, LightRiver welcomed Scotty Benda as Chief Product Officer to our leadership team. With this addition, we better positioned LightRiver for success in the age of open optical networking and automation. Soon after, Bryan Hasegawa joined the LightRiver family as our new Chief Financial Officer, bringing forth a wealth of knowledge from both the tech and FMCG industries. These appointments have greatly contributed to LightRiver’s success this past year.
New Product Update
In October, LightRiver released netFLEX 4.6.1, which added improved support for Open Optical technologies and the ability to manage Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) through API-driven automation. This new platform update enables operators to deploy multi-vendor solutions in response to supply chain issues. The latest netFLEX 4.6.1 release offers support for Open Line Systems, Coherent Pluggable Optics, Switch/Router Packet Edge, and DCI/Transponders. This enables inventory management in real-time and programmable analytics with Alien Aware Networking® integration for network design, build, deploy and automation. These features make netFLEX 4.6.1 the industry leading Open Optical platform for multi-vendor and multi-technology automation.
New Partnerships
In 2022, LightRiver partnered with several leading organizations to advance customer and employee experiences. South Reach Networks (SRN) utilized LightRiver’s WaveWatch™ offering as an Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations (AIOPs) framework. And Independent Data Solutions (IDS) announced its new partnership to transform how organizations in Australia and New Zealand manage their optical network hardware. Smartoptics also announced that its open line systems portfolio is supported in netFLEX®, enabling their products to be managed with components from other vendors in a single network management system. Lastly, The Kenton Group signed to join the LightRiver netFLEX® Partner Alliance in order to extend its portfolio further into carrier SDN management. Collectively, these partnerships have enabled customers access to best in breed and highly innovative solutions from LightRiver.
Award wins
In February, LightRiver’s Software Defined Waves (SD-WAVES) solution was recognized as a High-Scoring recipient of the 2022 Lightwave Innovation Reviews. Then in November, we received Pipeline’s Editor’s Choice Award for our SD-WAVES solution in the 2022 Pipeline Innovation Awards, attributing to our innovation and commitment to service excellence. These awards demonstrate LightRiver’s dedication to providing its customers with the best in class telecommunications solutions.
LightRiver in the News
This year, we’ve seen some significant developments in our company and we have been making news with our innovative work. We’re excited to share all of these with you, so click through the links for more details!
- Collaboration on Network Disagg (Open Optical and the Aliens)
- FirstLight Activates 400 Gbps Network Connection with Ciena
- The New World of UX in Network Management
- CVF Capital Partners Exits its Investments in LightRiver Technologies and Software
We are fortunate to have experienced an incredibly successful 2022. Thank you for joining us on this look back at 2022 and here is to a successful 2023!