A former Vodafone engineer whose software company helped O2 manage the avalanche of mobile phone traffic during the London Olympics has sold the business she founded a decade ago for £57m.

Shirin Dehghan, a substantial minority shareholder in Arieso, will net millions from the cash deal with United States mobile technology group JDSU. She will stay on to run her team from its headquarters in Vodafone's home town of Newbury.

An Iranian who moved to the UK with her parents at the age of 14, Dehghan gained a masters in electronics engineering from Southampton University and was eventually headhunted by the British mobile group.

She worked in research and development at Vodafone for four years before leaving to start her own business in 2002, a decision which she described as like "throwing yourself off the cliff without knowing what's on the bottom".

Her startup was prompted by the advent of 3G mobile internet in the UK, and the opportunity Dehghan saw to help networks manage the massive increase in data traffic that it would bring.

"When the iPhone came out it brought networks to their knees, and someone needed to help operators with solutions to manage those needs."

Having handed in her resignation "without telling my husband, by the way", Dehghan wrote the business plan for Arieso while pregnant with her second child.

Arieso can pinpoint network traffic down to the individual user, using the information to identify traffic hotspots and bottlenecks, so that operators know when to turn up the power on a particular mast or switch traffic to another nearby.

The company now has 40 network customers in 24 countries, including Vodafone and O2 in the UK – it helped O2 during the 2012 Games when the network provided mobile connections for Olympic venues and events such as the cycling. Arieso also supported South African group MTN during the football world cup in 2010.

Arieso's revenues were £18m last year. Its team of 100 staff will join JDSU's 4,500 global workforce but remain in Newbury. Dehghan and 11 of her staff will share in a golden hello of 208,000 JDSU shares, worth $3m (£2m) at today's prices.

"Shirin has done a tremendous job of building a great team that is focused on customers," said JDSU executive David Heard. "We are looking forward to having her be part of our family and she is going to have a huge impact on JDSU".