NetScaler Founder Launches NeoAccel

Michael Susai, the founder and one-time CEO of Web-acceleration vendor NetScaler Inc., has resurfaced at the helm of another security startup, NeoAccel.

The executive founded Netscaler back in 1997, and left the company in 2002. During his time at NetScaler, Susai was behind the companys core Request Switching technology for handling Web traffic, which helped the startup win deals with the likes of Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), Google Inc., and Amazon. The San Jose, Calif.-based firm is now regarded as one of the key vendors of all-in-one devices combining SSL VPN, compression, and load-balancing features (see Leading Lights Awards Finalists and Light Reading Exposes Privates).

But Susai told NDCF that he needed a fresh challenge.

Susai’s latest venture is focused on SSL VPN. NeoAccel’s flagship offering is called SSL VPN-Plus, and comes either as standalone software or pre-packaged on Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) Pentium or MIPS-processor-based 1U devices. A smaller appliance, built using system-on-a-chip (SOC) technology, is also available.

SSL VPN-Plus can support up to 20,000 concurrent users, according to Susai, who says the boxes can also avoid a problem known as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) meltdown (see Shocking Results in LR's SSL VPN Test.To achieve this, Susai has developed a technology called Intelligent Connection Acceleration Architecture (ICAA), which enables a single connection from the client to the gateway.

NeoAccel currently has 30 employees, although Susai predicts that this number will at least double during 2005.

Like a number of other startups, NeoAccel is putting its faith in the OEM route for its U.S. operation. OEM deals are critical for many startups because an established partner can effectively rubber-stamp their technology and provide valuable routes to market.

The company has already won an OEM deal with Raleigh, N.C.-based CipherOptics Inc., according to Susai, and more are in the pipeline. “We have got a few other agreements on the way,” he says somewhat cryptically.

However, NeoAccel is entering a part of the market where there is stiff competition from established vendors such as Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) and F5 Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV).So, where is NeoAccel getting the money to support all this? Susai told NDCF that he has already pumped “a couple of million” into the company, and he says revenues are also coming in from the CipherOptics deal and some direct sales in Japan. “We’re cash flow positive,” he adds.

NeoAccel will officially launch SSL VPN-Plus at next week’s RSA Conference in San Francisco.

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-gen Data Center Forum