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Mavenir is an early and aggressive player in the open RAN movement
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Nvidia invested in Mavenir in 2020 – before Nvidia became the hottest ticket in town
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Mavenir is using chips from multiple suppliers
Guess who invested in Mavenir, the open radio access network (RAN) pioneer that made a name for itself in all things wireless?
None other than Nvidia, the artificial intelligence (AI) superstar that can’t escape the headlines for one second. Nvidia’s valuation topped $2 trillion in February, putting it in the company of Microsoft and Apple when it comes to market capitalization.
Before Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) was all the rage, it purchased $25 million in equity from controlling stakeholder Siris Capital Group in Mavenir, according to a 2020 S-1 SEC filing.
At the time, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) also purchased $25 million in equity, which was due to be converted to common shares when a planned IPO was completed, but that didn’t happen.
In October 2020, Mavenir postponed the IPO, citing market volatility. In subsequent years, the company saw dramatic growth but also went through a series of layoffs of marketing and other staff – and the IPO never happened.
Nvidia's Midas touch
One might assume that anyone who’s rubbed shoulders with Nvidia would be shouting from the rooftops about an investment, even if it’s from several years ago.
When asked about the AI RAN Alliance, Mavenir President and CEO Pardeep Kohli revealed to Fierce last month that Nvidia invested in the company in 2020. (In case you've forgotten in your post-MWC haze, Nvidia is a founding member of the alliance.)
However, when questioned about the investment, Mavenir’s spokesperson declined to comment, saying, "I’m unable to share any information around investments into Mavenir."
Like a modern-day Midas touch, anything Nvidia invests in these days generates attention. Citing Dealogic figures, The Wall Street Journal this week reported that Nvidia invested in about three dozen startups last year, more than tripling its activity from the previous year.
One such startup, SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) saw its stock price soar after Nvidia invested. Additional AI companies are also seeing a boom in their share prices after Nvidia revealed investments in a regulatory filing. Those companies include Arm, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Nano-X Imaging, and TuSimple.
Besides helping to grow the future ecosystem, investments in smaller companies presumably can give Nvidia access to some amount of data about how its products are being used. For the recipients of its financial backing, they gain credibility, which is especially valuable for startups, said industry analyst Roger Entner of Recon Analytics.
Mavenir is not a startup, but its “chip agnostic” strategy is notable. “You want to be agnostic,” Entner said, rather than be beholden to one supplier.
Kohli told Fierce that Mavenir is taking a multi-chip approach, where it can run its baseband software on Intel, Qualcomm or Nvidia chips. It’s also working with Marvell, “so we’re kind of chip agnostic,” he said.
Some folks in wireless will remember the collapse of the dotcom era stocks in 2000. So, if – heaven forbid – Nvidia’s chips were to go out of style and/or its bubble burst tomorrow, it’s nice to have options.
At press time, Nvidia's stock was trading at $906.20, up 5.65% today.