Druid Software, the leading provider of cellular network software platforms for enterprise and industrial applications, has secured $20M in strategic growth capital to help the company expand into critical verticals such as Defense, Shipping and Utilities. The funding was co-led by leading national security venture capital fund, J2 Ventures as well as HICO, a preeminent maritime focused investment group with significant participation from industry experts Arthur Patterson, the co-founder of Accel Partners, and serial telecom founder, John Georges. 

Druid is both profitable and growing rapidly. It was founded 24 years ago by telecommunications veteran Liam Kenny in Bray, Ireland, the company now operates with offices in the U.S. and in mission critical deployments in over 35 countries and some of the most advanced enterprises in the world in healthcare, ports, manufacturing, warehouse and logistics, government, defense and Non-Terrestrial Networks. 

Druid has benefited as advances in handheld computing, IoT and connected equipment are growing exponentially with the demand for AI, but cellular technology to enable this connectivity has struggled to keep pace. There are very few independent companies that have the expertise to provide the infrastructure for the next generation of connected devices, and many of those rely on Druid to power their solutions. 

"The last four years we have seen a surge in demand for our products in every major infrastructure category from healthcare to connected warehouses. When we started Druid 24 years ago, we never dreamt our core network products would be so integral, but many also did not see the AI boom either, and as people want more computing in more things, it would appear you need one to enable the other”, remarked Druid’s CEO and Founder, Liam Kenny. 

Druid’s solutions are designed to address the challenges faced by enterprises in maintaining reliable and secure mobile communications, especially in environments where traditional systems may not suffice. Druid’s RAEMIS technology platform also allows customers to create multiple distinct network zones with varying levels of speed and bandwidth. These zones allow customers to dynamically adjust the prioritization of critical applications and communications while efficiently reducing resources for less critical services- a space that has grown exponentially in the last four years. 

The company has never taken nor did it need outside investor dollars. “We’ve been looking at this space for years and there is really no non-publicly traded business that comes close to Druid’s performance, reach and efficiency - entities we thought were competitors turned out to actually be customers”, notes J2 Ventures Managing Partner, Alexander Harstrick. “When we found Druid, we shifted our focus to convincing the company to take our money because they are already profitable and growing very fast” noted Harstrick. “The entire investment is going towards the strategic interests of Druid to help them go even faster in places our group knows very well”. Alongside the leads on the investment are Arthur Patterson, Co-founder of Accel Partners, whose investment track record includes telecom giants such as Metro PCS (IPO, then acquired by T-Mobile, NSDQ: TMU), UUNet (acquired by MFS) and NextG Networks (acquired by Crown Castle, NYSE: CCI) among many others. The syndicate also includes John Georges, founder and CEO of Sobey Networks, NextG Networks and LGC wireless.