Mavenir raised $500 million through the sale of a minority equity stake to Koch Strategic Platforms (KSP), in a move positioned to further drive the vendor’s cloud-native 5G software push.

In a statement, Mavenir said KSP, a subsidiary of US-based multinational heavyweight Koch Industries, agreed to a private placement and was a natural partner to advance its 5G efforts.

The size of Koch’s stake in the vendor was not disclosed.

Beyond the capital investment, KSP aims to employ the resources and capabilities of Koch Industries to accelerate Mavenir’s growth and identify new platforms.

KSP focuses on growth equity in: computing and connectivity; industrial automation; energy transformation; and healthcare. President David Park said the company was “taking material equity positions in innovative, disruptive companies” operating in industries with “significant tailwinds”.

“We want to partner with companies that can transform Koch Industries for the future. Mavenir checks all the boxes,” he added.

Mavenir CEO and president Pardeep Kohli said the investment would help it to use its software platform to drive “the digital transformation of mission-critical networks”. Mavenir is a major player in the booming Open RAN market.

Details of the investment comes around six months after Mavenir scrapped a plan to IPO in the US due to market volatility, after outlining plans to raise around $300 million in October 2020.