SA networking startup Asimmetric raises 7-figure funding round in Silicon Valley

Asimmetric, the South African networking startup, has announced a funding round from a group of high-profile Silicon Valley VCs.

One of a handful of hardware startups to come out of South Africa, Asimmetric’s product monitors and optimises Wi-Fi networks so that providers can easily measure and manage the users’ experience.

While the startup hasn’t revealed exactly how much the investment is worth, it has confirmed to Ventureburn that it’s a seven-figure US dollar amount.

The investment was led by Avidan Ross’ Root Ventures, an early-stage venture fund focused on hardware, logistics and manufacturing, and engineering design. Ross, who will join the company’s Board of Directors, says, “Having spent part of my career in IT management, I only regret that Asimmetric didn’t exist when my team fielded trouble tickets. As WiFi becomes more critical to businesses, we believe Asimmetric will become an essential tool for IT managers.”

“One year ago my co-founders and I were hand-assembling our devices in a basement in Cape Town,” says Asimmetric’s David Wilson. “Now we have teams in South Africa and San Francisco, our devices are being used on three continents and we are backed by some of the best hardware and IoT investors in the world.”

Asimmetric’s new investors include Bolt and Haystack. Bolt is a venture capital firm that invests exclusively in early stage companies at the intersection of hardware and software. Bolt’s team has shipped tens of millions of units of over 100 different products and made investments in companies like Desktop Metal, Tempo Automation, and Petnet. Haystack, founded by Semil Shah, has invested in over 70 companies, including Instacart, Doordash and Giphy. In addition, Asimmetric’s existing angel investors increased their investment in the company.

The announcement is the latest in a series of successes for the hardware startup. In 2015, it was accepted into the Highway1 accelerator in San Francisco.

According to Asimmetric co-founder Fouad Zreik, the company will use the funding to “launch the next generation of our products, expand our engineering team in Cape Town and grow our commercial office in San Francisco.”

“We’ve come a long way, but this is still the beginning of our journey,” adds Wilson. “We believe the Internet is the most important technology of our lifetime, and we want to make it better for everyone.”