Sandvine Incorporated is an application and network intelligence company based in Waterloo, Ontario. Sandvine markets network policy control products that are designed to implement broad network policies, including Internet censorship, congestion management, and security. Sandvine's products target Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks for consumers, including cable, DSL, and mobile. Operation Sandvine classifies application traffic across mobile and local networks by user, device, network type, location and other parameters. The company then applies machine learning-based analytics to real-time data and makes technical policy changes. As of 2021, Sandvine has over 500 customers globally. Company history Sandvine was formed in August, 2001 in Waterloo, Ontario, by a team of approximately 30 people from PixStream, a then-recently closed company acquired by Cisco. An initial round of VC funding launched the company with $20 million CDN. A subsequent round of financing of $19 million (CDN) was completed in May 2005. In March 2006 Sandvine completed an initial public offering on the London AIM exchange under the ticker 'SAND'. In October 2006 Sandvine completed an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker 'SVC'. Initial product sales focused on congestion management and fair usage as service providers struggled with the rapid growth in broadband traffic. As fiber rollouts and 4G networks became more prevalent, the company's application optimization and monetization use cases were adopted by many customers. This allowed service providers to deliver usage and application-based plans, zero-rate applications, reduce fraud, and introduce security and parental controls as a way to generate new revenues. In June 2007 Sandvine acquired CableMatrix Technologies for its PacketCable Multimedia (PCMM)-based PCRF that enable broadband operators to increase subscriber satisfaction while delivering media-rich IP applications and services such as SIP telephony, video streaming, on-line gaming, and videoconferencing. In July 2017 Sandvine shareholders accepted a $562 million (CDN) takeover bid from PNI Acquireco Corp., an affiliate of Francisco Partners and Procera Networks. The acquisition was completed in September 2017 when Sandvine shares ceased to be listed in the Toronto Stock Exchange. The acquisition was completed despite concerns raised by Ronald Deibert, the director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto who argued that the takeover required “closer scrutiny” by the federal government, largely in light of some of the activities done by two of Francisco's portfolio companies. Most notably Procera Networks was part of a controversy where its