The archive · Hardware & Devices · Strategic decision · 2021–2026
Somos Internet's Vertical Integration Bet Wins: $40M Series B
Founded in Medellín in 2021, Somos built its own fiber network; revenue tripled in 2025, and it raised $40M in 2026.
Somos Internet
What the business is
Somos Internet is a vertically integrated Colombian fiber operator: it builds its own backbone network, manufactures its own routers, develops its own network management software, and provides access services from 800 Mbps to 100 Gbps to households and businesses.
Starting capital：Series A in 2025-09 (amount undisclosed); completed a $40M Series B on 2026-03-13, co-led by Bracket Capital and Ribbit Capital, with participation from Union Square Ventures, Kaszek, Not Boring Capital, Y Combinator, and others.
How it started
American Forrest Heath moved to Medellín in 2018 without speaking Spanish and with no telecom experience. He observed that Latin American operators were still deploying a shared-cable architecture from twenty years earlier and decided to build a data-center-style active Ethernet network from scratch: he founded Somos Internet in 2021, entered the Y Combinator (YC) Winter batch the same year, and the team developed the FiberX ring topology, manufactured Orb routers, and built self-managed software and a national backbone network in-house.
What happened
As of early 2026, Somos was already the fastest-growing fiber ISP in Colombia: revenue tripled in 2025, users doubled year over year, Medellín operations were profitable, payback period per customer was 13 months (industry average five years), monthly additions were about 6,000 users, total customers exceeded 80,000, business customers included Mercado Libre, Rappi, and Auteco; the company had more than 1,000 employees. It completed a Series A in 2025-09 and announced a $40M Series B on 2026-03-13, with an investor list including Union Square Ventures, Kaszek, and Y Combinator.
How it ended up
Expanding: the $40M will be used to more than triple coverage area in Colombia and enter Mexico City in 2026—the company's first international market; at the same time, it hired former Google Fiber executive Jill Szuchmacher as COO and established sister company Autoridad Panandina to build AI data centers.
Background
Somos Internet bets vertical integration can rebuild telecom. Founder Forrest Heath moved to Medellín in 2018 without Spanish or telecom experience; he saw operators using outdated shared-cable networks. In 2021 he founded Somos, developing active Ethernet (FiberX), manufacturing Orb routers, writing software, and running a backbone in-house, claiming cost per customer was a fraction of the US$80–120 industry average.
Numbers support the bet: in 2025 revenue tripled and users doubled, Medellín achieved operating profitability, payback was 13 months vs. five-year industry average; by March 2026 it had 80,000+ customers, adding 6,000 monthly, with business clients like Mercado Libre and Rappi. After a Series A in September 2025, it announced a $40M Series B on March 13, 2026, co-led by Bracket and Ribbit, with USV, Kaszek, Not Boring, and Y Combinator.
Expansion replicates the model: triple Colombian coverage and enter Mexico City; hired ex-Google Fiber executive Jill Szuchmacher as COO and founded Autoridad Panandina to use hydropower for AI data centers. Investors see beyond broadband: vertical integration opens paths to sell networks to hyperscale data centers and hardware to users.
What has to be true
- Cost structure is a moat: in-house architecture, hardware, and software drive cost per customer down to a fraction of industry average.
- Prove first, then expand: achieved profitability and 13-month payback in Medellín, supporting replication in Mexico.
- Growth is real: revenue tripled in 2025, users doubled, adding 6,000 customers monthly.
- Strong capital consensus: Bracket, Ribbit, USV, Kaszek, and Y Combinator entered together, seeing fiber as AI-era infrastructure.
What can be applied
Vertical integration can cut costs dramatically in infrastructure startups; prove unit economics in overlooked markets, then expand.
Aftermath
As of 2026-03-13: Somos Internet entered an acceleration phase with a $40M Series B, planning to more than triple coverage in Colombia in 2026 and enter Mexico City, maintaining a growth pace of 80,000+ customers and about 6,000 customer additions per month, while extending into AI data centers through APD; no signs of contraction or shutdown were seen.
Sources
- Somos Internet Raises $40M Series B to Build AI-Ready Digital Infrastructure for Latin America
- Somos Internet obtiene US$40 millones para expandirse a México y seguir desafiando a las telcos
- Somos Internet raises $40M Series B
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