Ananda SG-LAN: Helping companies create their own private networks

Ananda Networks announced the Ananda Secure Global LAN (SG-LAN), a cloud-managed service that allows organizations to create their own private networks, connecting any users, devices, and cloud services anywhere with unparalleled speed, security and simplicity.

The company has also announced $6 million in seed funding from MizMaa Ventures, Citrix Systems, Gefen Capital, Cyber Mentor Fund, GreatPoint Ventures, South Korean cybersecurity firm Jiran, J-Ventures, and individual investors.

“We are excited to be an early investor in Ananda Networks; today, more than ever, we recognize that users and organizations need to stay connected,” said Rick Kaplan, partner at MizMaa Ventures.

“Ananda Networks is transforming the old networking and security models. Companies can now extend their perimeter to allow easier, faster and more secure access to all cloud and on-prem resources for remote, mobile, and branch users.”

“Connecting the modern enterprise calls for a new, cloud-native paradigm that will allow it to easily create its own private, secure, high-performance networks connecting all users, devices and cloud services — converging both security and performance and doing so without requiring complex and costly hardware or infrastructure,” stated Richard Stiennon, founding analyst of IT Harvest.

Highlights of the Ananda Networks service are:

• Up to 25 times faster speed: Ananda’s self-optimizing network uses machine learning to connect any two nodes on the network optimally without backhauling traffic or forcing it through proxies, and leverages advanced communication protocols to provide unmatched performance.
• End-to-end security: Ananda allows organizations to create their own fully private networks that are encrypted end-to-end, without entrusting their communication to a third party, and provides native zero-trust networking and micro-segmentation.
• Unparalleled simplicity: The Ananda service is fully cloud-managed, as easy to set up and use as a Slack channel or a group messaging app, and can replace multiple discrete solutions, such as firewalls, VPNs, SD-WAN, and MPLS.

“We are seeing a generational shift toward a fully distributed workforce. However, while the world has changed, our network hasn’t. To meet their connectivity and security challenges, organizations have to put band-aid over band-aid, while experiencing lower performance and security with higher cost and complexity. Ananda is rebuilding the network from the ground up to solve the core problem rather than its symptoms,” said Adi Ruppin, co-founder and CEO of Ananda Networks.

“We are proud to be able to help people and organizations stay connected in these difficult times and to enjoy the highest level of speed, security, and simplicity, as if they are all on the same local area network. By doing so, we are realizing our mission to bring the world network bliss!”

Ananda Networks customers can use the network for all their distributed workforce needs, such as connecting remote engineering teams to development environments on-prem or on multiple clouds, connecting employees to SaaS applications for increased performance and security, and replacing complex and expensive VPN, MPLS, SD-WAN and other legacy, centralized solutions.