Connectivity and connected networks are part and parcel of how many devices and services operate today, thanks to innovations and expansions in mobile networks, on-device processing and the cloud. But behind the scenes, there remains a lot of fragmentation: different regions, technologies, tariffs and devices can spell a lot of work for enterprises or service providers […] © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.

Since it was founded in 2015, Cato Networks has evangelized the concept of a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) platform that combines many of the features of software-defined networking, modern network security tools, and endpoint protection into a single service backed by a global private network. The promise here is that instead of managing dozens of different networking and security tools, a cloud-native SASE provider like Cato can now offer IT all these tools under a single umbrella, allowing those teams to be more agile. Now, the company is expanding its platform with the addition of a Digital Experience Monitoring…

The GPUs and other chips used to train AI communicate with each other inside datacenters through “interconnects.” But those interconnects have limited bandwidth, which limits AI training performance. A 2022 survey found that AI developers typically struggle to use more than 25% of a GPU’s capacity. One solution could be new interconnects with much higher bandwidth, according to Vivek Raghunathan, the CEO and co-founder of startup Xscape Photonics. The secret sauce, he says, is silicon photonics: silicon-based material that manipulates light to transmit data. “Xscape has created a platform that connects various computing elements in a sustainable way, while offering…

Port, a platform designed to centralize multiple dev tools and workflows in a single dashboard, has raised $35 million in a Series B round co-led by Accel and Bessemer Venture Partners. Yonatan Boguslavski and Zohar Einy, now Port’s CEO, founded the company in 2022 after serving together in the Israel Defense Forces. Prior to Port, Einy was a solutions manager at debugging tool startup Rookout, and helped to launch an AI monitoring firm called Aporia. Einy has long been of the opinion that devs are overly dependent on DevOps teams — the teams that oversee app planning, testing, and development…

SimpliSafe has announced the addition of Active Guard Outdoor Protection to its monthly subscription offerings. The new tier adds an added layer of 24/7 monitoring to the home security service. Outdoor Protection Pro is available for $50 a month, a price that includes the Boston-based firm’s standard $22  indoor monitoring service. The new offering will only be available via a new piece of hardware, the Outdoor Security Camera Series 2. SimpliSafe says the limitations are due to its predecessor’s inability to run its ‘AI for the Familiar Face’ feature, which assures that users don’t trigger false alarms at their own…

Harry Stebbings, the U.K. podcaster who broke into the world of tech with his 20-minute interviews of venture capitalists and founders, parlayed that fame into becoming a VC himself. Now, Stebbings has closed his third investment vehicle, and it’s his biggest yet: 20VC, the firm named after the podcast series, has closed a $400 million fund.  At a time when European technology companies continue to lag behind their U.S. counterparts at almost every stage of investment, 20VC’s new fund will focus on backing startups in the region, using Stebbings’ media nous and connections to bring more attention to them. “I’m…