Mutable delivers faster, greener and more secure internet experiences 

Edge computing startup Mutable, which includes a development office in Armenia, just closed its seed investment round based on its vision to build what they call the “Public Edge Cloud” - which delivers faster, cheaper, greener and more secure internet experience for users, by helping datacentre owners share underused compute power with 3rd-party developers.

Head of partnerships and content at Mutable Raffi Elliott discussed the news with Itel.am.

“While traditional cloud computing requires data to be sent to massive data centers hundreds of kilometers away for processing, deploying a cloud “on the edge” (in other words: as geographically close to the end-user as possible) makes it possible to process data much faster and more securely, opening up possibilities for telemedicine, Autonomous Vehicles, and better-networked devices,” he said.

Raffi Elliott compares Mutable’s Public Edge Cloud to the Airbnb model. 
 
“Similar to how Airbnb connects travelers looking for affordable lodging with landlords looking for extra income from their property, Mutable provides telecommunications companies (and other firms who own their own data centers) with an extra revenue source by “renting” their unused server space to the public,” he explained.

Mutable’s story starts almost 6 years ago when Antonio “pelle” Pellegrino, a programmer from New York, spent a month in Yerevan at his classmate Vache Asatryan’s startup incubator Saryan/Tumanyan. Pelle, who as a gamer, was always interested in networking, found common cause with co-founder, edef and went to work developing the underlying technology to create a hyper-low latency cloud. Asatryan, who started out as one of Mutable’s earliest clients, would eventually join the company as a third co-founder. However, they had to wait until 2017 when 5G network infrastructure started becoming available, for Mutable to take its current form.

The startup has gone through the TechStars accelerator program in New York, and is an alumnus of the CableLabs UpRamp programme as well. 

“Unlike private cloud service providers like Openstack and Redhat, we create new sources of revenue for server owners by opening up their compute to 3rd party developers. Since Mutable’s OS runs on top of any server, we make ubiquitous compute more easily available for developers, while also empowering telcos and cable operators to improve their customer experiences,” added Mr. Elliott.

Mutable is an international team with its 11 members spread between Costa Rica, the USA, the Netherlands, and Armenia. The product team, headed by CPO Vache Asatryan is based in Yerevan, as is the communications team consisting of 2 people including Elliott, meaning that the majority of the company is based in Armenia.

At the moment, Mutable’s target market is North American cable operators who have the compute resources and are looking for new ways to monetize them as well as provide additional services to their customers. However, according to Mr. Elliott, the market can quickly be extended to telecommunications companies, cable operators across the world on the one hand, and any developers in need of extra compute without the jitter and latency issues on the other.

Currently, Mutable is deploying its first large-scale pilot programme in partnership with a major American internet services provider, and another one in Canada. Over the next year the startup founders hope to expand both the product and business development teams.

Raffi Elliott has added that the startup has raised a USD 1.5 million seed round from a consortium of the U.S. and European investors including Momenta Partners, Acequia Capital, and Charlie Songhurst, led by Fly Ventures and Lunar Ventures.