Fastly, Inc.
Fastly, Inc. operates an edge cloud platform for processing, serving, and securing its customer's applications in the United States, the Asia Pacific, Europe, and internationally. The edge cloud is a category of Infrastructure as a Service that enables developers to build, secure, and deliver digital experiences at the edge of the internet. The company offers network services to speed up and optimize the delivery of web and application traffic; content delivery network, such as dynamic site acceleration, origin shield, instant purge, surrogate keys, programmatic control, content compression, reliability features, fanout, domainr, modern protocols and performance services; staging environment; and video/ streaming solutions and services, including live streaming, live event monitoring, video on demand, cache reservation, and media shield. It also provides security solutions, such as DDoS protection, next-gen WAF, bot management, API and ATO protection, advanced rate limiting, privacy, and compliance services; load balancing; image optimization; and origin connect. In addition, the company offers professional services comprising managed and response security services; managed CDN; and support plans services. It serves customers operating in ecommerce, streaming media, gaming, digital publishing, and high tech to financial services industries. The company was formerly known as SkyCache, Inc. and changed its name to Fastly, Inc. in May 2012. Fastly, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
What does it do?
Fastly helps websites and apps load faster by processing data closer to the user, rather than routing everything through a distant central server. Think of it like having a local warehouse instead of shipping everything from one national headquarters. When you stream a video, shop online, or use an app, Fastly's network quietly works in the background to make sure it loads quickly and securely. Big names like Spotify, GitHub, and The New York Times have used Fastly to deliver content to their users.
As more businesses run entirely online, the speed and security of digital delivery has become a competitive edge, not just a technical checkbox. Fastly sits at the intersection of two fast-growing trends: edge computing (processing data closer to users) and cybersecurity, both of which are getting more investor attention as AI-driven applications demand faster, more reliable infrastructure. With enterprises under constant pressure to improve digital performance, Fastly's services are increasingly seen as essential rather than optional.
How does it make money?
Fastly makes money by charging customers based on how much data they push through its network, meaning revenue grows as customers use it more. This usage-based model means a single big customer scaling up can meaningfully move the needle. In its latest annual results, Fastly brought in $0.6 billion in revenue, up from $0.5 billion the prior year, showing roughly 20% growth. It also earns from its security products, like its web application firewall and bot protection tools, which are becoming a larger slice of the business.
Why do investors care?
The growth story here is that every company eventually needs fast, secure, global digital delivery, and Fastly wants to be the infrastructure layer powering that. Investors are watching whether Fastly can expand its security revenue, which tends to be stickier and higher-margin than pure content delivery. For the thesis to work, Fastly needs to land larger enterprise contracts, reduce its losses, and fend off competition from giants like Cloudflare and Akamai. The company is not yet profitable, so investors are essentially betting on future scale paying off.
Deep Dive
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