Aug 1 (Reuters) - Nile, a networking startup co-founded by former Cisco Systems executives John Chambers and Pankaj Patel, has raised $175 million in a new round to fund its efforts to build a Cisco competitor, the company said. Nile, which has previously raised $125 million, did not disclose its valuation, but said it had doubled since the last round. Data from PitchBook pegged the company's valuation at $395 million in 2020. Since its technology became available last May, Nile has signed customers such as Stanford University and startup Carta. Pankaj Patel, chief executive at Nile, said the young company can challenge the incumbents by offering ease of use at lower cost and advanced security features in its network.

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Persons: John Chambers, Pankaj Patel, Hewlett, Nile, Patel, Sumant, Krystal Hu, Nick Macfie Organizations: Cisco Systems, Cisco, March Capital, Sanabil Investments, Saudi Telecom Company, Liberty Global, PitchBook, Juniper Networks, Hewlett Packard, Aruba Wireless, Stanford University, Reuters, Sumant Mandal, Thomson Locations: Saudi, San Jose, NaaS, Aruba, New York