Druid Software Acquires Node-H to Strengthen Private 5G Platform

Ireland’s Druid Software said on July 7 that it had bought Munich-based Node-H’s team and intellectual property assets. The acquisition brings the smaller firm’s Radio Access Network (RAN) engineers and IP into Druid’s private 5G business, per the Druid’s full announcement on the Node-H deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Druid’s announcement frames the deal as a capacity play for private 4G and 5G demand across enterprise, industrial, public safety and mission-critical environments. The same statement adds that the deal creates opportunities for Druid to license selected software assets to other companies operating in the O-RAN and RAN vendor market. That licensing clause adds a new lane to a business built on selling Druid’s own core network software. Druid has until now focused on running the core of private 5G networks and relied on partner vendors for the radio access layer.

What Druid Just Bought

Druid Software announced the acquisition from its Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland headquarters on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Node-H is a Munich-based specialist in Radio Access Network software and User Equipment technologies. The transaction brings Node-H’s engineering team into Druid and transfers the smaller firm’s RAN-related intellectual property to the Irish buyer.

Bringing the Node-H team into Druid gives us additional, extremely valuable experience and software engineering talent, with deep knowledge of private cellular networks. Our priority is to keep delivering for customers and partners as demand for private 4G and 5G continues to grow. This acquisition increases our capacity, strengthens our technical depth and helps us accelerate the development of a more unified, easier-to-manage private network platform.

Liam Kenny, CEO of Druid Software, made that statement in the company’s July 7 release. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, per Silicon Republic’s coverage of the announcement. Mike Cronin, CEO of Node-H, framed the deal in his own statement as a home for his team’s specialised cellular software work. Druid will continue to focus on its core network software and private cellular platform, the company said.

What Node-H Brings to Druid

Node-H was founded in Munich in 2008. The company develops RAN software and multi-mode small cells for enterprise and public access deployments.

Node-H describes itself as a “pioneer” in 5G Open-RAN software for private networks, per Computer Weekly’s writeup of the announcement. The firm specialised in secure, scalable offerings for industrial and government applications. It built technology aimed at letting organisations deploy 5G connectivity without compromising on security.

Cronin said the deal puts Node-H’s specialised cellular software work inside a larger private networks operation. “Druid has a strong position in private networks,” he said in his own statement, “and we look forward to contributing to the next stage of its growth.” The transaction makes Node-H’s existing technology part of Druid’s wider private cellular platform going forward. Druid said it will continue to focus on its core network software and private cellular platform.

Closing the Core-to-RAN Gap

Druid’s core product is Raemis, a 3GPP-compliant 4G/5G core network platform. The company says thousands of its private cellular networks are deployed globally, with customers in business and mission-critical environments. Until now, Druid has paired that core with radios and RAN gear from partner vendors rather than developing its own.

Private 5G networks typically stitch together a core from one vendor with RAN equipment from another, and integration is where deployments succeed or stall. Node-H’s RAN software and User Equipment expertise slots into the side of the stack Druid has bought from partners. The deal lets Druid tune its core more tightly to specific RAN behaviour. It also gives the Irish firm a seat at the O-RAN table when private operators ask for interoperability across vendors. Interoperability across multiple vendors is the central goal of the O-RAN Alliance’s specifications, per the organisation’s published white papers.

Druid listed four strategic benefits in its July 7 release:

• Expanded engineering capacity from experienced cellular software engineers joining the team.
• Unified management capability to make private 4G and 5G networks easier to deploy, operate and maintain.
• Deeper RAN partner integration while maintaining Druid’s focus on core network software.
• Additional licensing opportunities for selected Node-H IP across the O-RAN and RAN vendor market.

The O-RAN Licensing Lane

One clause in Druid’s announcement points in a direction the rest of the deal does not. Druid said the deal creates opportunities for it to license selected Node-H software assets to other O-RAN and RAN vendors. Capacity, the telecom trade publication, called the same provision “a potential new revenue stream” for Druid.

Druid has, until now, sold its own private core network software under the Raemis brand. Node-H’s RAN and User Equipment IP gives the Irish company assets it could license to other O-RAN and RAN vendors without competing against its own core customers. The clause is permissive, not yet a revenue line: no customer, partner or pricing detail accompanied the announcement. What is clear is that the deal positions Druid to operate on both sides of the private 5G supply chain. The O-RAN Alliance has published guidance on adopting open RAN architecture for private 5G, framing the model around openness, interoperability and multi-vendor integration.

Druid has not publicly named any O-RAN licensing customer or partner. The clause reads as a future option rather than a signed contract today. The acquired Node-H IP gives the company the technical assets such a licensing business would draw on.

Key Numbers Behind the Deal

• Announced: July 7, 2026 (Druid Software).
• Druid HQ: Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland (Druid Software).
• Node-H HQ: Munich, Germany (Druid Software).
• Node-H founded: 2008 (Silicon Republic).
• Last external raise: $20 million in 2025 (Silicon Republic).
• Deal terms: not disclosed (Silicon Republic).

Druid’s Run at Private 5G So Far

Druid has built its private 5G business around the Raemis platform, a 3GPP-compliant 4G/5G core designed for enterprise critical communications. The company says thousands of its networks are deployed globally. Druid’s stated next step is a unified management platform to simplify deployment, operation and lifecycle management of private networks. Druid has historically paired Raemis with radios from partner vendors rather than owning the RAN layer.

In 2025, Druid raised $20 million to expand into defence, shipping and utilities, per Silicon Republic’s writeup of the round. The round was co-led by Boston-based national security venture capital fund J2 Ventures and Singapore-based maritime-focused investment group HICO. Druid’s announcement of the 2025 funding round names the same co-leads.

The acquisition lands as private 4G and 5G demand climbs across enterprise, industrial, public safety and mission-critical sectors, according to Druid’s July 7 statement. Druid’s Raemis platform is the company’s main product in this space, designed for enterprise critical communications. The Node-H team adds engineers who have worked on RAN software and small cells for similar customers. For Druid, the deal sharpens an offering it has built around private cellular core software.

The verticals Druid named in its 2025 funding round as expansion targets were defence, shipping and utilities, per Silicon Republic’s coverage. Those markets overlap with the enterprise, industrial, public safety and mission-critical sectors flagged in Druid’s July 7 acquisition statement. Druid says Node-H’s RAN software will support more complete private network solutions for customers in those same environments.

What the Announcement Leaves Unsaid

Druid did not disclose the financial terms of the Node-H acquisition. The size of the Node-H engineering team has not been stated in either company’s announcement. No integration timeline, customer migration plan or leadership structure for the acquired unit has been published. The acquisition was announced as a team and IP transfer without any disclosed consideration.

Druid’s July 7 statement confirms the company will keep its core network software focus. It adds that the Node-H expertise and IP will deepen RAN partner integration, improve multi-vendor network management and support more complete private network solutions. Capacity’s coverage of the deal noted that financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Druid CEO Liam Kenny has positioned the transaction as a capacity and depth play. The two companies have not yet said when the first joint product announcement will come.