Bigleaf Networks Gets $21M for SD-WAN

Bigleaf Networks, the Cloud-first SD-WAN that provides connectivity between businesses and their cloud technologies, closed a $21 million Series B funding led by Updata Partners with participation from the Oregon Venture Fund, SeaChange Fund, and other existing investors. This funding will help in accelerating product innovation for their SD-WAN platform and expanding their offering into new markets and channels.

Yu may recall, we just shared the news that 128 Technology raised $30M and Aryaka raised $50M.

The funding follows a year of momentum for the Beaverton-based company. Since its last funding round in January 2018, Bigleaf has tripled their recurring revenue and their team. This growth comes as use of SaaS and Cloud technologies continues to increase across the hundreds of thousands of SMB and Mid-size Enterprise businesses—creating an increasing need for flawless connectivity over notoriously unreliable broadband ISPs.

“These SMB and Mid-size Enterprise businesses are struggling to address their connectivity issues with traditional networking technologies,” said Joel Mulkey, founder and CEO, Bigleaf Networks. “The other solutions available on the market today aren’t effective for many SaaS and cloud apps, require too much management, and aren’t intelligent enough to adapt to the pace of change in today’s businesses.”

Mulkey added, “We’ve built a product that has already solved these problems for over 1000 customers, and because we meet their needs so well, those businesses have rewarded us with a 95% annual renewal rate. We’ve purpose-built Bigleaf for these SMB and Mid-market customers and their unique needs. With this funding, we’ll be able to scale our offerings while investing in new features to extend our value for both new and existing customers.”

Filling a $2B gap in the SD-WAN market

Bigleaf has become a highly differentiated vendor in a growing, and sometimes crowded, SD-WAN market. Current networking technologies have been built for the large enterprise use-case of site-to-site networking. SMB and Mid-sized companies are left behind – companies with the uptime and performance requirements of a large enterprise but without the budget or IT expertise or site-to-site focus. They are the hidden enterprises of business.

“Bigleaf serves a $2B+ opportunity in the rapidly evolving networking software market,” said Jon Seeber, General Partner at Updata.”Back in 2015, other SD-WAN providers built solutions to address existing market needs. Bigleaf had the foresight to design their SD-WAN for where they saw the market going.” Seeber added, “Where other offerings focus on traditional networking approaches, Bigleaf has built a product that’s ready for a world in which companies consume technology in the cloud as opposed to data centers and server closets. Bigleaf’s focus and vision, combined with growing market potential and stellar team, make them an ideal fit for our portfolio and an exciting company to partner with as they grow.”

Bringing MSPs into Bigleaf’s growing Channel program

Bigleaf’s exclusive focus on partner-led channels has driven their revenue growth. Bigleaf is widely available through the telecom agent channel where the global Master Agent Telarus named them the top-selling SD-WAN platform in recent years. The addition of a Global Managed Service Provider (MSP) Partner Program has further accelerated their growth. This new MSP program makes SD-WAN a practical reality for the tens of thousands of MSPs serving small and medium-sized businesses around the world—helping those MSPs improve control of their customer experience and reduce growth-inhibiting support costs.

Bigleaf’s co-founder and VP of Sales, Jeff Burchett

In case you missed it, we broke the news about Bigleaf focusing on MSPs this past June.

“Bigleaf’s success in the Telecom Channel was built through our relationships with hundreds of forward-looking partners who could see the growing need for a more stable and reliable connection to cloud technologies,” said Bigleaf’s co-founder and VP of Sales, Jeff Burchett. “MSPs are a natural addition to that channel. Our SD-WAN platform integrates seamlessly into their existing offerings, and the convergence of the Telecom and MSP Channels opens new offerings and revenue streams to both partner types. With this funding, we’ll be able to extend our reach to more partners in the Telecom and MSP channels and enable them with the training and resources they need.”

It’s an exciting time for customers looking for SD-WAN solutions and digital transformation tools in general. Companies should come and learn about the latest in everything you need! SIP Trunking, UCaaS, the Channel, IT, IOT, Edge, Cybersecurity, AI, SD-WAN, and the Future of Work at the world’s only SD-WAN Expo and MSP Expo, part of the ITEXPO #TechSuperShow, Feb 12-14, 2020 Fort Lauderdale, FL.

You will see all the leaders in SD-WAN, including: