Speedera Networks

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Speedera Networks, Inc.
Type Privately held
Founded 1999 (acquired by Akamai Technologies in 2005)
Founder Ajit Gupta (CEO)
Rich Day (chief architect)
Eric Swildens (CTO)
Headquarters Santa Clara, California, United States
Industry Internet hosting services
Services Content delivery
Website www.Speedera.com

Speedera Networks was a provider of distributed application hosting and content delivery services founded in 1999 by Ajit Gupta (CEO)[1], Rich Day (chief architect), and Eric Swildens (CTO).[2][3] The company was based in Santa Clara, California.[4]

Speedera was backed by investors including Stanford University and Trinity Ventures.[4] It soon became one of the fastest growing private companies in Silicon Valley and in North America in five years, according to Deloitte & Touche and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The company initially was created to cache static Web content but then transformed itself to deliver dynamic imaging, rich content and accelerated Web applications.

The provider of distributed content and application delivery services helped companies offer bandwidth-intensive content, graphics, and streaming media over the Web. It operated servers on more than 1,000 backbone networks, putting the content physically closer to users, and speeding up downloads and streams. Its clients included DoubleClick, FOX Broadcasting, Macromedia, McAfee, NASA, and Univision.[4]

In February 2002, Akamai Technologies filed a lawsuit claiming that Speedera's content delivery network services infringed on Akamai patents.[5]

In June 2002, Speedera's three co-founders received U.S. Patent 6,405,252  covering the global traffic management and content delivery technologies of its network.[6]

In March 2005, Akamai Technologies announced it had signed an agreement to acquire Speedera for 12 million shares of Akamai common stock, valued at $130 million at that time.[1] Both companies also agreed to halt pending litigation involving trade secrets and patent infringement.[7] The acquisition was completed in June 2005.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Akamai to Acquire Speedera Networks. Press Release. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (2005-03-16).
  2. ^ Speedera: Web Without the Wait. EContentmag.com (2002-04-01).
  3. ^ Eric Swildens receives honor with place in UMD science academy. BusinessNorth (2004-12-29).
  4. ^ a b c Speedera Networks, Inc. Company Profile. Yahoo! Inc..
  5. ^ Akamai sues Speedera. Network World Fusion (2002-02-14).
  6. ^ Speedera Wins Patent for Core Content Delivery Technology. Press Release. PR Newswire (2002-06-26).
  7. ^ Akamai snaps up rival Speedera. CNET News (2005-03-16).
  8. ^ Akamai Completes Acquisition of Speedera Networks. Press Release. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (2005-06-13).