Wireless startup Luminate sees executive change as investors stamp mark

Cloud-based radio network start-up sees shift of top personnel.

Luminate Wireless, a start-up cellular equipment manufacturer targeting the enterprise market with a cloud-based radio access network solution, has seen two top executives leave their roles in recent weeks.

Murari Srinivasan, co-founder and CEO, left his role as CEO in March, being replaced by his fellow co-founder Kevin Yu. Srinivisan is now listed on Luminate’s company page as co-founder and advisor.

Experienced marketing lead Ronny Haraldsvik (SpiderCloud, BelAir, Flarion) has also left the company, moving on in April from his role as SVP Marketing. Haraldsvik left his previous post at SpiderCloud in summer 2015.

Sources suggested to TMN that there was a requirement for a change of leadership from leading investors. In February 2016 Light Reading reported that the company had revealed the names of several more investors, including Google and Qualcomm – adding to a list already including Sequoia and NEA.

Srinivasan was one of the software engineers behind the SpiderCloud E-RAN solution, before spending a couple of years with Google Access. His co-founder Yu also has Google on his portfolio.

Luminate’s proposition is to combine enterprise access points with  a cloud based controller that can create networks according to user context. It’s a similar idea conceptually to current distributed small cell systems – such as SpiderCloud’s to take one example – but one that virtualises network functions such as S-GW and He-NB GW onto a cloud controller platform that itself can be distributed and controlled by the company’s cloud management software.