About Isovalent
As the creators of eBPF, Cilium, and Tetragon, Isovalent is dedicated to building a multi-cloud connectivity, security, and observability platform.
Our story
It started with Open Source
Our journey began at the heart of a groundbreaking technology - eBPF. We built Cilium, on eBPF, and it quickly became a flagship innovation offering an open source, cloud native solution for security and observability into network connectivity between workloads.
Founded by Thomas Graf and Dan Wendlandt, the company Isovalent was born from the desire to extend the powerful capabilities of eBPF and Cilium beyond hyperscalers to a global community. From our early contributions to the Linux kernel to building an ecosystem around eBPF, we have been committed to creating transformative, open-source technologies.
Our future
Isovalent, now part of Cisco
In April 2024, we officially became part of Cisco, marking an exciting new chapter in our journey. With Cisco’s scale and expertise, we’re accelerating the development of our core technologies, Cilium, Tetragon, and eBPF, so organizations can better secure, scale, and optimize operations across any cloud environment.
Our technologies are now a cornerstone of the Cisco Security Cloud vision helping businesses stay ahead of emerging threats with integrated, AI-driven security solutions. The Isovalent Enterprise Platform continues to deliver a universal networking and security layer for Kubernetes, VM’s, and physical servers across cloud, on-premises, and edge environments, while remaining a gateway to emerging cloud-native innovations and community-driven open source.
Enterprises that trust Isovalent
- Adobe
- Bloomberg
- JPMC
- Nationwide
- Roche
- Swiss Life
Hear from Isovalent's founders
Betting on success
“When we founded the company back in early 2017, we bet big on three things: eBPF, Open Source, Kubernetes. We have never been more bullish on these three bets than we are today, and they will continue to drive the core of our strategy for years to come.”
- Dan Wendlandt, Co-Founder Isovalent
Accelerating our success
“As we learned more about Cisco’s strategy and plan, we got more and more excited about the joint vision of continuing to build OSS & our amazing team, while also accelerating the product side and bringing cloud-native excellence to customers with products they love.”
- Thomas Graf, Co-Founder Isovalent
Jeetu Patel
President & Chief Product Officer at Cisco
“Isovalent brings an incredible vision and a critical set of building blocks that will help us invent things that were simply not possible before”
Our culture
We are passionate about networking, security, Kubernetes and eBPF. Together we have contributed decades to open source projects and care deeply about open collaboration. We are distributed across the world. Beyond technology, we’re known as Isonauts, and many of us share a love of the outdoors, running, hiking, skiing, climbing and biking.
Our products
Discover the Isovalent Enterprise Platform
A universal networking and security layer for Kubernetes, virtual machines, and physical servers across cloud, on-premises, and edge.
Open source
The heart of Isovalent
Since its inception, open source has been at the heart of everything we do at Isovalent. Isovalent was founded by the creators and maintainers of Cilium and eBPF.
Cilium
Cilium is an open source, cloud native solution for providing, securing, and observing network connectivity between workloads, fueled by the revolutionary kernel technology eBPF.
Tetragon
Tetragon, a project created by Isovalent, provides eBPF-based transparent security observability combined with real-time runtime enforcement. The deep visibility is achieved without requiring application changes.
eBPF
eBPF enables users to dynamically program the kernel for efficient networking, observability, tracing, and security. Many of the engineers involved in the creation of eBPF founded Isovalent.
Liz Rice
Chief Open Source Officer at Isovalent
Right from the get go, Dan and Thomas have had a really clear picture of the kind of culture they want to build. Having very smart people, enjoying the time that they’re spending together, lays the foundation for being able to build great projects together.
Learn more about Isovalent from Isonauts
Give to Gain: Celebrating Growth Through Opportunity
As March comes to an end we take this moment to reflect on how we celebrated International Women’s Day at Isovalent in 2026. We aligned it with the official theme of this year “Give to Gain” and we truly resonated to it.
The Dan Kohn Scholarship Application Guide: Your Fast-Track to KubeCon
At Isovalent, we support the Dan Kohn scholarship fund because we believe every perspective makes the cloud-native ecosystem better. Inclusion isn’t an afterthought; it’s how great technology—and great communities—happen. Learn more about the Dan Kohn scholarship and how to apply.
Busy Bees, Balanced Minds
Isovalent’s World Bee Day initiative showed how deeply our culture connects personal well-being with positive impact. Instead of the usual idea of work–life balance, our team embraces work–adventure balance, a value that encourages curiosity, renewal, and individuality. For a month, colleagues took on personal challenges that helped them recharge, from long bike rides and mountain climbs to quiet reflection, creative projects, and mindful routines. Each activity supported Planet Bee Foundation, giving hundreds of children access to pollinator education. The experience showed how our culture thrives when people define balance in their own way. It strengthened our sense of community and reinforced the belief that caring for ourselves helps us contribute more to our work and to causes that matter.
Be Bold. Be Brave. Be a Queen. Join us.
On International Women's Day 2025, Isonauts share their stories. Check out our career openings page and apply!
The Cilium Honeycomb: Building Diversity, Community & Technical Excellence
The Cilium ecosystem thrives on collaboration, adaptability, and purpose.
The Season of Belonging
As the year comes to a close, we take time to celebrate what matters most at Isovalent: belonging. Across more than 28 countries, our global team comes together through inclusive traditions, shared moments, and thoughtful rituals that reflect our diversity and values. From global dinners and creative celebrations to our year end Send Off and quiet period, December is a reminder that our culture is built on connection, care, and people feeling truly seen.