Barefoot Networks

Barefoot Networks was a Santa Clara, California-based computer networking company that designed and produced programmable network switch silicon, systems, and software for hyperscale cloud data centers. Founded in 2013 by Nick McKeown, Pat Bosshart, Martin Izzard, and Stefanos Sidiropoulos, the company pioneered the use of P4 — a domain-specific programming language for packet forwarding dataplanes — enabling data center operators to customize network behavior at line rate. Its flagship product, the Tofino chip, supported switching speeds up to 12.8 Tbit/s. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs, Google, and Alibaba, Barefoot raised over $150 million before being acquired by Intel in June 2019. Intel subsequently used Barefoot's technology to build the Intel Tofino product line, though halted further chip development in January 2023.