Nokia Acquires Rapid, the Former $1 Billion Valued API Company

In a move to strengthen its position in the 5G era, Nokia has acquired Rapid, a startup that operates an API marketplace. The acquisition is part of Nokia’s bid to become a bridge between the tech and telecom industries.

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The Acquisition

Nokia will be integrating Rapid into a platform it’s building to help 5G operators open their networks to more developers. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but sources have speculated that the price could be as low as $100 million. The acquisition includes Rapid’s public marketplace, enterprise services, and an enterprise-grade API hub.

The Rise and Fall of Rapid

Rapid was once a hot startup, valued at $1 billion in 2022 after raising nearly $273 million in venture funding from big-name investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Microsoft, and SoftBank. However, the company saw a significant decline in its business over the last couple of years, with layoffs reducing headcount by 82%. As of today, Rapid has only thousands of active users and hundreds of APIs.

Nokia’s Motivation

Nokia sees an opportunity for carriers to encourage more development on costly 5G networks. Carriers want more third parties building applications and services on these networks, but they need a bridge to connect with developers. Nokia is pitching its acquisition as a way to help carriers work more easily with developers.

The "Network as Code" Platform

Nokia has launched a new platform called "Network as Code," which allows carriers to create and manage their own network architecture using software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). Rapid’s API framework will be part of this initiative, enabling developers to build applications and services on top of 5G networks.

The Future of APIs

The acquisition highlights the importance of APIs in the modern tech landscape. As more businesses and organizations adopt digital transformation strategies, they need to open up their systems and data to third-party developers. APIs provide a way for these companies to share their resources with others while maintaining control over how they are used.

Quotes from Nokia and Rapid

"The combination of Rapid’s API technology and R&D expertise with Nokia’s scale and network and API domain expertise will enable us to expand the broader API ecosystem." – Friend, CEO of Rapid
"We believe that this acquisition will help us to further accelerate our growth and innovation in the 5G era." – Nokia spokesperson

Conclusion

Nokia’s acquisition of Rapid marks a significant step towards building a more open and collaborative tech landscape. By integrating Rapid’s API marketplace into its platform, Nokia aims to enable developers to build applications and services on top of 5G networks. The future of APIs looks bright, and we can expect to see even more innovative uses for these technologies in the years to come.

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