Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) Have Evolved
Content delivery networks (CDNs) have undergone significant transformation. Once primarily focused on delivering static files efficiently, today's CDNs are incorporating advanced features like edge computing and security tools into their core offerings. This evolution complicates the process for users trying to switch between CDNs, making it harder to find the fastest or most cost-effective solutions tailored to their specific locations.
Enter IO River, a new player emerging from stealth mode with the announcement of a $5.4 million seed funding round led by S Capital. IO River aims to simplify the switching process between CDNs by providing a robust layer of services that extends beyond the basic functionalities shared by most providers.
The inception of IO River can be attributed to two seasoned industry professionals. Co-founders Edward Tsinovoi (CEO) and Michael Hakimi (CTO) collaborated for over a decade, including their time at Akamai’s Tel Aviv office, before establishing IO River in late 2022 and joining the Intel Ignite accelerator program.
“Many online service companies find themselves locked into a single CDN or edge vendor,” Tsinovoi stated. “This reliance significantly affects their resilience, performance, and cost efficiency. Leading enterprises are increasingly reluctant to depend on a single edge vendor. While some have transitioned to multi-CDN architectures, managing multiple edge vendors introduces complexity and expense. Our mission at IO River is to make this multi-vendor approach accessible to all.”
IO River delivers fundamental services characteristic of a multi-CDN platform, including traffic distribution among providers to enhance uptime, performance, and cost-effectiveness. It features a unified management console, allowing users to leverage the native APIs of different CDNs for common functionalities, such as URL redirection.
The challenge lies in integrating application and compute services at the edge. Since CDNs aren't designed for seamless interoperation, finding common ground can be difficult. IO River addresses this by offering proprietary application services, including a web application firewall, rate limiting, and origin load balancing. Notably, it provides a cohesive edge computing platform that enables users to run identical code across various platforms without modifications.
To begin using the service, users can import their existing CDN provider's settings and seamlessly add new ones as needed. IO River continuously monitors the performance of its supported networks, providing comprehensive analytics that guide users in selecting the optimal network for any given location. Additionally, it allows for the automatic switching of networks when problems arise.
Currently, the enterprise platform supports top providers such as Akamai, CacheFly, Cloudflare, CloudFront, Edgio, EdgeNext, CDNetworks, Fastly, and Gcore. There’s also a free version available, which accommodates up to 1 billion hits monthly but lacks advanced features like global rate limiting, unified origin load balancing, and IO River’s cohesive edge computing service.
“Companies relying on the internet thrive on effective content delivery,” remarked Haim Sadger, co-founding partner of S Capital. “Even a brief website outage or sluggish content can significantly impact sales. Furthermore, with increasing financial pressures, data costs constitute a large portion of operational expenses. Traditional CDN solutions don’t address all these challenges. IO River presents a modern solution that meets the market's evolving needs, and we’re thrilled to invest in Edward and Michael’s extensive expertise in delivering internet content globally.”
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