Ben Edmond, the chief executive and founder of Connectbase (formerly Connected2Fiber), knew that if he could consistently answer “who has what (and) where,” he could transform how connectivity gets bought and sold.
Now, his company Connectbase is cataloging the world's networks with location data to create a central marketplace that streamlines connectivity buying and selling. Connectbase created a cloud-based system that continuously updates with new network data. Edmond compared it to a travel website that helps people book airfare and hotels and gives information about price, duration of travel and more.
“We’re really orchestrating that type of simple experience with the right analytics and data to make the best possible decision,” Edmond said.
The Westborough-based company recently raised a $21 million Series C funding round to expand and meet the global need for bandwidth. The round was led by DigitalBridge Ventures, the digital infrastructure firm of DigitalBridge Group Inc., and included all existing Connectbase investors, such as Ascent Venture Partners, Harbert Growth Partners and Nauta Capital.
Edmond has centered his work around connectivity, which he defines as the delivery of network services. That means connecting a set of users or a site to something, whether it’s wireless services, the internet, the cloud or another site. Connectbase provides buyers with data on things like delivery install intervals and cost. The company also gives sellers tools to help them with pricing and positioning to win customers.
Edmond founded Connectbase in 2015 after two decades working in the fiber, telecom, and networking industry at companies like FiberLight LLC, Global Capacity LLC and MCI Telecommunications.
“I started the company to build a set of tools and capabilities I wish I had running the companies that I was running,” Edmond said.
“All those things require network, and network today is fiber, coax, wireless, satellite, copper, all kinds of different things,” Edmond said.
Connectbase said it serves 28 of the top 30 network operators in the U.S. market and has over 30,000 users on its platform.
Edmond said the company plans to invest some of its new funding in the platform that brings buyers and sellers their own marketplace. Some of the funding will be used to grow its go-to-market outreach to expand globally. And, the new capital will also be used to build out Connectbase’s customer experience services to better partner with customers and provide real-time data.
Edmond said the company has 82 employees and plans to hire people in sales, marketing, customer experience, data science, data engineering and development.
