Quick Facts
- Nexthop AI raised $500 million Series B at $4.2 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Company launched three new switches: NH-4010, NH-4220, and NH-5010, designed specifically for AI cluster traffic
- Tech giants are expected to spend $650 billion on AI data centers and infrastructure in 2026
Nexthop AI Inc. closed a $500 million Series B funding round at a $4.2 billion valuation, marking one of the largest networking infrastructure rounds on record. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the oversubscribed round, with participation from Andreessen Horenz, Altimeter and existing investors.
The startup announced three new hardware products alongside the funding: the NH-4010, NH-4220 and NH-5010 switches. All three devices run on Broadcom networking chips and target AI data center traffic patterns.
The NH-4010 processes 51.2 terabits of traffic per second, while the NH-4220 delivers twice that capacity. The NH-4010 operates up to 20% more efficiently than competing products, generating energy savings of several dozen megawatts per device.
“Our relentless focus on innovation and deep customer partnerships has driven the development of highly customized JDM solutions for the largest operators,” said CEO Anshul Sadana, who previously served as COO at Arista Networks for 17 years.
The funding comes as tech giants prepare massive AI infrastructure spending. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are expected to invest about $650 billion in AI data centers and related infrastructure in 2026.
Nexthop competes directly with established networking providers including Cisco Systems, Arista Networks and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. Arista recently raised its 2026 AI networking revenue guidance to $3.25 billion, while Broadcom reported $8.4 billion in AI revenue for Q1 FY2026, up 106% year-over-year.
“The rapid growth of AI is forcing a fundamental rethink of data center network architecture,” said Guru Chahal, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “That creates one of the largest infrastructure market opportunities we’ve seen in a generation, with the potential to build a $100B+ company.”
The company’s NH-5010 switch uses a disaggregated spine architecture that splits traditional networking functions into two tiers. One tier processes traffic inside the data center, while the other manages packets flowing between data centers.
Nexthop raised $110 million in March 2025 before this Series B round. The company will use the new capital to finance product development and scale its team for hyperscale customers.
Read more: AI networking startup Nexthop AI raises $500M, launches new switches