Acorus Networks

Acorus Networks, established in 2014, carved a niche in the cybersecurity sector with a clear focus on Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection. The company was founded by Benjamin Schilz and Raphael Maunier. The founders' backgrounds were highly complementary; Schilz is a telecommunications engineer with experience in cloud security and web hosting, while Maunier was a co-founder of France-IX, the premier internet peering service provider in France, bringing two decades of experience in the telecom and network industries. This blend of expertise shaped the company's direction towards creating customizable solutions for complex DDoS challenges.

The firm operated by providing cloud-based, non-intrusive security solutions designed to ensure high availability for clients' network and web infrastructures. Its business model centered on offering these protection services to a wide array of clients whose operations are critically dependent on the internet, including those in e-commerce, media, banking, government, gaming, and healthcare. Acorus's services did not require on-premise equipment, instead providing traffic detection and scrubbing ahead of the customer's connection. The company developed a global network of Points of Presence (PoPs) and scrubbing centers to deliver its mitigation services with low latency and high availability worldwide. Clients could use a customized portal to view traffic in real-time, allowing for manual or automated responses to counter potential attacks.

Acorus Networks' journey includes a significant funding milestone in October 2018, when it raised €5 million in a Series A round from investors including Elaia Partners, Partech, and Kima Ventures. This capital injection was aimed at expanding its capacity to protect a growing international client base. The company demonstrated rapid growth by securing prestigious customers and establishing itself in the anti-DDoS software market. In a strategic move in July 2019, Acorus Networks merged with the U.S.-based Volterra, an edge-as-a-service platform. This merger eventually led to the acquisition of Volterra by F5 Networks in January 2021 for approximately $500 million.

Keywords: DDoS protection, cybersecurity, network security, cloud security, traffic scrubbing, DDoS mitigation, network availability, web infrastructure protection, anti-DDoS, internet security, service provider security, enterprise security, real-time traffic monitoring, volumetric attack protection, application security, network infrastructure, data center protection, online gaming security, e-commerce security, financial services security, government cybersecurity, healthcare IT security, edge computing, F5 Networks, Volterra