Tag Archives: Cybersecurity

IK Partners to acquire Truesec

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”) is pleased to announce that the IK IX Fund has signed an agreement to acquire Truesec Group AB (“Truesec” or “Group”) from Sobro, alongside management and employees who will be reinvesting. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.

Founded in 2005 by Marcus Murray and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Truesec is the leading independent cybersecurity service provider in Sweden. Its purpose is to prevent and reduce impact from cyberattacks, making a true difference to today’s connected society. This purpose, coupled with its strong culture and diverse opportunities, ensures that Truesec successfully attracts the best talent in the cybersecurity industry. At present, the Group employs approximately 180 individuals.

The Group has a loyal and diverse customer base comprising of predominantly enterprise clients who are spread out across various industries. It is the most natural and preferred cybersecurity partner to many organisations due to its broad range of competencies, highly skilled experts and long-standing customer relationships.

Since inception, the Group has enjoyed a continuous growth in revenues, strengthened its market-leading position as an independent cybersecurity service provider, been able to recruit the top cybersecurity experts and evolved from a nascent challenger to a best-in-class end-to-end cybersecurity partner. The next phase of the journey will focus on continuing to recruit the best talent within the cybersecurity industry, continuing to be the preferred cybersecurity partner to both Swedish and international companies and developing new and relevant services and capabilities while growing the Truesec position internationally. The Group will continue to be led by CEO Anna Averud and her team.

Anna Averud, CEO of Truesec, said: “We firmly believe that a partnership between Truesec and IK will form a solid basis for capturing value creation opportunities across several dimensions, specifically helping us to further solidify the Group’s market position in the Nordics as well as expand its presence outside current core markets.”

Marcus Murray, Founder of Truesec, said: “We’re delighted to have IK’s trust and support as we mark the beginning of Truesec’s journey to become an international leader in cybersecurity. The demand for our expertise and capabilities to prevent breach and minimise the impact from cybercrime has never been greater. With IK’s support, we are confident that we will become a stronger partner to our clients and be able to expand our international footprint to create world-class solutions to meet the global challenge of defending against cybercrime today and tomorrow.”

Alireza Etemad, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK IX Fund, said: “At IK, we pride ourselves on being ‘People-First Private Equity because it’s amazing what happens when you put people first. We discover new ways to grow together, better ways to build on success and we see possibilities everywhere. We feel that this ethos, together with our core values, aligns well with those of Truesec’s. The Group is a real success story and has experienced tremendous growth in a very short time. With plenty of opportunities to further expand, coupled with a very experienced management team, we look forward to a strong partnership with them and look forward to supercharging the next phase of their growth journey.”

David Stenlund Sager, Partner at Sobro, commented: “We are proud to have supported Truesec for the past three years as it has accelerated its growth and strengthened its position as the leading pure-play cybersecurity services provider in Sweden. It has been a pleasure working with the team and we wish both management and IK all the very best for the future.”

Completion of the transaction is subject to legal and regulatory approvals.

IK Partners
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
+44 (0) 7584 142665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk / ik-maitland@maitland.co.uk

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 155 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikpartners.com

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Truesec

Truesec (“the Group”) is a highly-regarded cybersecurity company focusing on protecting organisations and the society against cyber threats. Since the start in 2005, the Group’s various expert teams have delivered top-class solutions to customers in the private and public sector, in Sweden and globally. For more information, visit www.truesec.com

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Leading cybersecurity company Infradata continues European expansion as Nomios

IK Partners

THE NETHERLANDS, November 2nd 2021 –  Leading security and network service provider Infradata has changed its name to Nomios. Under the Nomios Group, all Infradata companies in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom can focus on further European expansion in the coming years.

The name change marks the transformation of the company. Infradata started 17 years ago as a network integrator, and since expanded to also become a cyber security expert. New offices and acquisitions resulted in international expansion. The company saw its turnover grow by 30% per year to 250 million euros and now has more than 500 employees worldwide, throughout twenty locations. It provides cybersecurity and network services to over 2,500 clients worldwide, including many large enterprises, tier-1 service providers, public institutions, datacenter and cloud providers. Nomios has longstanding strategic partnerships with the key vendors in the industry like Palo Alto Networks, Juniper Networks, F5 Networks, Cisco, Vectra AI, Fortinet, Cybereason, and others.

Nomios’ focus will remain the same: be a trusted partner in a collaborative approach with clients and vendors to create the best possible solutions and services when it comes to cybersecurity and network infrastructure. As the digitization of society and the economy has accelerated over the past years, those solutions and services have never been more important. Many of the company’s clients are part of the vital digital infrastructure and rely on Nomios to manage and monitor their networks.

Ad Scheepbouwer, the former CEO of KPN and TNT, among others, was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2019. “The growing demand for cybersecurity services has allowed the company to operate on an increasingly large scale in Europe. As Nomios Group, we are in a position to become the largest pan-European supplier of cybersecurity and network services,” says Scheepbouwer.

“Nomios plays a key role in many large scale data networks throughout Europe. The name change marks a new phase in our journey. As a relatively young company, we have experienced significant growth. We look forward to continuing our expansion as Nomios and to secure and connect our clients’ digital infrastructures,” says Nomios Group CEO Sébastien Kher.

Note to editors:

For more information, media can contact Richard Landman, Head of Digital Marketing at Nomios, Mob: +31 -624693070, Email: richard.landman@infradata.com. Also visit: www.nomios.com.

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IK Partners to invest in Pr0ph3cy Group to become a French Leader in Cybersecurity

IK Partners

During European Cybersecurity month, consulting company Silicom and e-learning SaaS platform Seela have announced their merger to create Pr0ph3cy Group (“Pr0ph3cy” or “the Group”), a provider of IT and cybersecurity services in France. Pr0ph3cy will serve large private groups and government agencies to provide solutions for their critical security needs and will offer an e-learning platform aimed at upskilling or reskilling IT, network and cyber professionals.

By anchoring the Start-up mindset with a well-established SME in the French ecosystem, Silicom and Seela will demonstrate with this new group their ambition to actively participate in the emergence of European industrial sovereignty.

The Group has signed an agreement with IK Partners (“IK”) who will acquire a significant minority stake in the Group alongside Arthur Bataille, who will retain control and management of the business.

The transaction was led by IK’s Development Capital team and is the first investment from the dedicated pool of Development Capital in the IK Small Cap III Fund, which held a final close at its hard cap of €1.2 billion earlier this year.

European Ambitions

IK, together with management, will further develop the Group through five key goals:

  • Become the French leader in securing technological products by mastering the design and integration of “Secure by Design” as well as the technical training for these products;
  • Consolidate the French cybersecurity ecosystem around its training solution to promote its technical and technological excellence internationally;
  • Recruit over 100 individuals in 2022 in France, Europe and Canada to support its clients in their growth strategies and in the securitisation of their digital products and services. This organic growth strategy could be accelerated by targeted acquisitions facilitated by its new financial partner IK;
  • Accelerate the technological shift of cybersecurity through Artificial Intelligence around SOC (Security Operation Centre) – the centre of operations focused on monitoring threats – and SIEM (Security Information Management System) – the monitoring tool used by analysts that includes software to monitor enterprise networks; and
  • Reinforce digital sovereignty and accelerate the upskilling of cyber professionals to safeguard jobs and the French economy in the digital field.

Arthur Bataille, Founder and CEO of Pr0ph3cy Group: “Pr0ph3cy is a vision, a concept around innovation and the evolution of the cybersecurity market in France and internationally. As the market continues to evolve it is a decisive moment in our development. While cyber issues gain dominance, the French government is aware of the importance of reinforcing the digital security of organisations. The time has come to invest with the goal to create and promote French and European champions. To this end, we must also foster employment and training of cyber jobs in the context of talent shortage.”

Pierre Gallix, Partner at IK Partners and Advisor to the IK Small Cap III Fund: “Pr0ph3cy benefits from tremendous potential in its two business lines. We have every confidence that Arthur and his team will actively contribute to the rise of the cybersecurity market and we are very happy to support him in the deployment of his strategy.”

Pr0ph3cy PR Contact:
Leslie Toledano
Bureau de presse Leslie Toledano
+33 (0) 6 10 20 79 60
contact@leslietoledano-pressoffice.com

IK Partners PR Contact:
Maitland/AMO
James McFarlane
+44 (0) 7584 142665
jmcfarlane@maitland.co.uk / ik-maitland@maitland.co.uk

IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”, formerly IK Investment Partners) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 155 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects. For more information, visit www.ikpartners.com

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Pr0ph3cy

The Group is composed of Silicom, a consulting service company expert in the security of infrastructure / cybersecurity founded almost 40 years ago, and Seela, an e-learning platform focused on cybersecurity founded in 2019 that contributes to the protection of organisations through the awareness and training of teams in case of cyber-attacks. With 280 employees, the group is managed by Arthur Bataille. For more information, please visit https://silicom.fr/fr and https://seela.io/

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EQT Private Equity invests in EC-Council, a global leader in cybersecurity training and certification

eqt

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Asia III Fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has made a significant investment in EC-Council (the “Company”). EC-Council’s founder, Malaysian technopreneur Jay Bavisi, will retain a majority stake in the Company and remain as the Group Chief Executive Officer.

Established in 2001, EC-Council develops and provides proprietary cybersecurity training and certification programs for customers in more than 145 countries around the world, both directly and through more than 700 partners. The Company has experienced strong growth in recent years driven by a rising need to protect corporations against increasingly complex cyber threats and a widening gap in the supply and demand of digital talent in the cybersecurity industry. Today it has a global presence with offices and operations in the US, Asia and Europe, employing about 500 people worldwide.

EQT will support EC-Council in its next chapter by leveraging EQT’s experience developing cybersecurity companies, its global advisory network and in-house capabilities within digitalization and sustainability. To further support the Company on its next stage of growth, EQT is happy to announce that Andrew Wait, former President of Lynda.com and EF Englishtown and former SVP and general manager at Ancestry.com, will join EC-Council’s board of directors.

EC-Council’s training and certification programs help to equip students and professionals with both foundational and advanced skill sets required to thrive in the cybersecurity industry. The Company’s first and most well-known certification, the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), specializes in ethical hacking and provides students with an understanding of various cyber-attack vectors and preventative countermeasures and regularly ranks among the top ten certifications that are highly sought after by employers in the cybersecurity industry.

EC-Council programs set the cybersecurity bar globally and are trusted by seven of the top ten Fortune companies and 47 of the top 100 list. The Company is also supporting public organizations and governmental bodies, including the US Department of Defense (DoD), various agencies in the global intelligence community, NATO, and more than 2,000 of the world’s top universities, colleges and training companies.

Since its inception, EC-Council has grown into a platform that aims to not only educate and certify, but also to provide a holistic ecosystem for current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals worldwide. The Company now has dozens of certification programs worldwide designed to expand and advance skillsets cybersecurity professionals need. The Company’s EC-Council University, an accredited institution of higher learning in the US, provides certificate, undergraduate and postgraduate programs in cybersecurity.

Brian Chang, Partner, Head of Southeast Asia and Investment Advisor within the EQT Private Equity Advisory Team, said, “EQT Private Equity is excited to invest in EC-Council at this pivotal stage of the Company’s growth. We have been impressed with EC-Council’s development in this high-growth sector and its role in expanding the talent pool in the global cybersecurity industry. We see immediate opportunities to apply our digital skillset as well as our industry network and sector expertise to support EC-Council’s ambitious vision and growth plans. We look forward to partnering with Jay and his management team to develop its full potential going forward.” Jay Bavisi, Founder and CEO of EC-Council, said, “Over the past two decades, the entire EC-Council team has dedicated itself to the mitigation and remediation of the cyber plague that remains an ever-present challenge to organizations in all geographies and industries across the globe. We are excited to partner with one of the world’s largest and most highly respected private equity institutions, EQT, to further accelerate our growth and increase our positive impact to the global community. By expanding our cybersecurity product portfolio and increasing the accessibility of online cyber preparedness training and testing tools, we hope to accelerate the development of cyber talent worldwide while encouraging the participation of more diverse communities in this growing industry.”

Contact
EQT APAC media inquiries: EQTAsia@brunswickgroup.com, +852 9255-5136
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

For EC-Council: Dan Chmielewski, Madison Alexander PR, dchm@madisonalexanderpr.com, +1-949-231-2965; +1-714-832-8716
EC-Council Press Office, press@eccouncil.org

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EQT Private Equity sells Utimaco, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions

eqt
  • EQT Private Equity to sell Utimaco, one of the global leading providers of mission-critical professional cybersecurity and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures
  • Together with EQT, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy, including five add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with global reach
  • Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues and is expected to generate more than EUR 100 million for the fiscal year of 2022

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Mid Market Europe fund (“EQT Private Equity”) has agreed to sell Utimaco Verwaltungs GmbH (“Utimaco” or the “Company”) to SGT Capital LLC (“SGT”), a global alternative asset manager with offices in Germany and Singapore.

Headquartered in Aachen, Germany, and Campbell, CA, US, Utimaco is the leading platform provider of trusted cybersecurity and compliance solutions and services. The Company provides on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules, as well as key management solutions and data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco has more than 470 employees around the globe and with its focus on protecting data, identities and critical infrastructures against cyber-crime, the Company is a crucial force in contributing to making the world and societies a safer place.

Together with EQT Private Equity, Utimaco has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. In addition to strong organic growth, the Company has completed five strategic add-ons in the US, UK, Spain, and Germany and transformed into one of the global leading integrated European cybersecurity champions with strong capabilities in high-growth areas. Under EQT’s ownership, Utimaco has close to tripled its revenues, while maintaining its unique focus on R&D, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

Florian Funk, Partner within EQT Private Equity’s Advisory Team, said: “Utimaco plays a crucial role in fighting cyber-crime making the world a safer place and we are extremely proud of having supported Utimaco on its mission to create trust in the digital society, as cyber terrorism and data abuse is growing in complexity, sophistication and frequency. We would like to thank all employees for this exciting journey – We are convinced that Utimaco will continue its successful path with its new majority owner and are happy to stay invested as a minority owner.”

Stefan Auerbach, CEO of Utimaco, said: “In the last years, we have built a global platform leader for trusted cybersecurity solutions, providing the highest level of security and compliance to the world’s largest corporates and governments. With EQT’s support, we have been able to transform the business and accelerate growth by making substantial investments. The collaboration with the EQT team and the board has been fantastic, and we would like to thank you all for the great partnership and look forward to the next phase of growth together with SGT.”

Joseph Pacini, Co-Managing Partner of SGT Capital, said: “Utimaco is the clear market leader in global cybersecurity as well as data intelligence solutions and has executed an impressive innovation, growth and M&A strategy. We look forward to working with Stefan Auerbach and the entire Utimaco team as well as EQT Private Equity going forwards.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q4 2021. The parties have agreed not to disclose the transaction value. EQT Private Equity was advised by Moelis & Company (financial advisor), Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (legal), PWC (financial, tax) and Strategy& (commercial).

Contact
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 67 billion in assets under management across 26 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately EUR 29 billion and more than 175,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram

About Utimaco
Utimaco is a global platform provider of trusted Cybersecurity and Compliance solutions and services with headquarters in Aachen (Germany) and Campbell, CA (USA). UTIMACO develops on-premises and cloud-based hardware security modules and key management solutions as well as data intelligence solutions for regulated critical infrastructures. Utimaco is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in both of these market segments. 470+ employees around the globe create innovative solutions and services to protect data, identities and communication networks with responsibility for global customers and citizens. Customers and partners in many different industries value the reliability and long-term investment security of Utimaco’s high-security products and solutions.

More info: https://www.utimaco.com/

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Audax Private Equity Announces Investment in Cyber Threat Intelligence Leader Team Cymru

Audax Group

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has made a growth investment in Team Cymru, a global leader in cyber threat intelligence, to support its continued initiatives in the security space. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This investment will help expand the depth and breadth of Team Cymru’s solutions, allowing the company to make its unique threat intelligence accessible to a broader user base, and will support the acceleration of growth through acquisitions.

Based in Lake Mary, Florida, with operations across the globe, Team Cymru provides high-fidelity threat intelligence feeds and a unique external threat hunting platform, as well as analysis services. In addition to commercial offerings, the company furthers its mission to save and improve human lives by providing no-cost services to a variety of entities, including more than 130 CSIRT teams, network operators, and hosting providers.

“We are impressed by Team Cymru’s differentiated capabilities and its reputation with customers across a wide range of verticals,” commented Tim Mack, Managing Director of Audax. “As a leading provider of insight into malevolent infrastructure and a pioneer in external threat hunting and global security intelligence, we believe Team Cymru is an excellent investment in an accelerating segment of the market.”

The company’s flagship solution, Pure Signal™ Recon, is used by analysts to identify and trace malicious infrastructure, optimize incident response, and detect threats across supply chains and third-party vendors. Its security intelligence has been a key component in the offerings of software and security vendors for many years.
“We’re proud to be a premier source of ground truth for advanced security teams,” stated Rabbi Rob Thomas, Founder and CEO of Team Cymru. “We want to enable security teams at all stages of maturity to better predict attacks, interdict malicious infrastructure, and manage cyber risk more effectively.”

Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Team Cymru, and Foley & Lardner served as exclusive legal counsel to Team Cymru. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Audax.

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Audax Private Equity Announces Majority Investment in Risk Intelligence Leader Flashpoint

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) today announced that it has acquired a majority stake in Flashpoint, a global leader in actionable threat intelligence, to support its continued growth initiatives. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in New York City, Flashpoint is a leading provider of actionable threat intelligence and intelligence automation for commercial and government customers. The Company’s core software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) offering, “Flashpoint Vision,” provides customers with access to timely, relevant, and actionable data that teams need to identify threats and mitigate the impact of cyberattacks, fraud, and physical damage. Flashpoint continues to expand its flagship offering, and recently added compromised credentials monitoring, card fraud monitoring, and domain protection to the platform.

“We are thrilled to have the backing of Audax and look forward to benefiting from their deep expertise within the broader software, technology, and business services sectors,” said Josh Lefkowitz, Chief Executive Officer of Flashpoint. “This partnership will enable us to continue investing in both Flashpoint Vision and in new tools to expand our capabilities and offerings to our global customer base, and allow us to help even more customers across the private and public sectors rapidly identify threats and mitigate critical security risks. We are confident that Audax’ support will help take us to the next level.”

“Now more than ever, organizations and companies of all sizes, industries, and geographies are seeking to implement leading, reliable cyber intelligence services to protect the data and stakeholders that matter most to them,” said Timothy Mack, Managing Director of Audax. “Flashpoint is at the forefront of this charge with what we consider to be a premier platform, and we believe there is significant opportunity to expand their services and capitalize on even further growth via organic and inorganic initiatives. Importantly, we are thrilled to partner with Flashpoint’s exceptional management team.”

AGC Partners acted as financial advisor and Lowenstein Sandler LLP served as legal counsel to Flashpoint. Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel to Audax.

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Computest focuses on strong growth in cybersecurity with investment from Mentha

Mentha
Computest, a specialist in cybersecurity services, performance testing and DevOps, has entered into a partnership with investor Mentha. The aim of the partnership is to accelerate growth and become a leading player in cybersecurity services. In addition, Computest seeks to build upon its strong position as a DevOps specialist.

Computest was founded in 2005 by Hartger Ruijs. Under his leadership the Zoetermeer-based company has grown into an organisation with over 100 highly qualified specialists. They ensure that organisations’ applications and infrastructures work optimally and securely. Computest has built a strong reputation in this field. By way of example, ethical hackers from the company recently won an international hacker competition by exposing a vulnerability in Zoom.

Hartger Ruijs, CEO and founder of Computest: “Together with Mentha we can actually conquer the market and accelerate the growth that we have seen over the past 15 years. Mentha is actively involved and brings wide-ranging expertise and experience in helping companies to maximise their potential. I am therefore very confident that together we can realise Computest’s ambitious growth plans.”

Barend Rutten, partner at Mentha: “The number of ransomware attacks and data leaks is expected to rise further in the coming years, along with an increased demand for cybersecurity services. Investing in protection, detection and incident response is increasingly becoming a prerequisite for business continuity. This offers opportunities for Computest, which has proven high-quality expertise and specialists in this area. We look forward to guiding the company to the next growth phase with knowledge, expertise and capital.”

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About Mentha

Mentha is an independent equity company that invests in established, medium-sized and profitable companies with significant growth potential. Mentha is actively involved in companies in its portfolio and supports management teams in realising ambitious growth plans, through organic growth, international expansion and/or through a buy-and-build strategy. In doing so, it creates stronger and larger companies with considerable strategic value.

For more information: https://www.menthacapital.com/nl/

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ReaQta Closes Series-A Round to Expand Commercial Operations

Fortino Capital
  • Founded by an elite team of attack and defense cyber security experts, ReaQta’s Autonomous Detection​ & Response platform provides advanced endpoint security and operational resilience for the mid-market.
  • Moving away from the traditional cyber security model of blocking known and predictable threats, ReaQta leverages deep learning and dynamic behavioral analysis to map the status quo, identify abnormal behavior and protect against new attack techniques.
  • New funding from Alpha Intelligence Capital, Fortino Capital, InvestLink and Integra Partners will be used to expand commercial operations.

 

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – May 19, 2021 – ReaQta, a leading provider of advanced cyber security solutions for the autonomous detection and response of cyber threats, has closed an over-subscribed Series A funding round led by Alpha Intelligence Capital with participation from Fortino Capital, InvestLink and Integra Partners. ReaQta will invest the funding to expand its commercial operations and footprint, particularly across Europe and Asia.

ReaQta’s active defense intelligence platform aims to solve for the increasing number of businesses falling victim to malicious activities from cyber criminals and nation states actors. While traditional protection methods fight known threats and stand vulnerable to sophisticated attack techniques, ReaQta’s revolutionary platform stops known and unknown threats in real-time. Through deep learning, the platform constantly improves on defining normal behavior tailored to each business per endpoint, allowing it to block any abnormal behavior.

Additionally, traditional solutions require internal or external cybersecurity teams to act on any flagged threats. ReaQta’s platform not only detects threats, but also allows for a seamless and automated threat response in real-time. ReaQta was recently named a 2020 Cool Vendor by Gartner in Network and Endpoint Security for this unique approach in tackling cyber threats of all forms.

“We are extremely proud to partner with AIC, a deep-technology AI investor, and InvestLink, cyber-security veterans and founders of Securelink as well as Fortino Capital a B2B SaaS specialist with operating partner. With their support, we aim to accelerate growth and evolve from a promising scale-up to a leader in the cyber security space.” Alberto Pelliccione, Co-Founder and CEO of ReaQta, said. “The funding will mainly be used to expand our sales, marketing and support teams internationally. Reaching this milestone has been made possible thanks to our amazing team.”

“The increased interconnectivity of endpoints and data and the rise of malicious activities from threat actors over the last few years has created a substantial threat to business continuity,” Frank Staut, Managing Partner at InvestLink and  Co-Founder/CTO at Securelink, a leading enterprise cybersecurity provider in Europe which was acquired by Orange said. “We have analyzed this segment for several years and are convinced that ReaQta provides an industry-leading solution. The maturity and reference projects of the company’s Autonomous Detection & Response platform, in combination with a stellar team, sets them apart.”

Antoine Blondeau, Founder & Managing Partner of AIC, said “We believe in the disruptive potential of ReaQta’s threat-hunting solution. ReaQta is one of the first to combine deep learning with behavioral analytics to perform cyber threat-hunting, with an unparalleled degree of automation. As organizations move to remote work streams, increasing their number of endpoints, ReaQta is well positioned to capture the market’s explosive growth.”

 

About ReaQta

ReaQta is Europe’s top-tiered AI Autonomous Detection & Response platform, built by an elite group of cyber security experts and AI/ML researchers with extensive backgrounds in government intelligence operations. Built with advanced automated threat-hunting features, ReaQta allows organizations to eliminate the most advanced threats in real-time. As experts in AI and behavioral analysis, ReaQta’s proprietary dual-AI engines provide organizations across all industries with autonomous, real-time and fully customizable endpoint security, minus the complexity. As a result of unprecedented levels of automation coupled with intuitive design, ReaQta’s customers and partners benefit from performance improvements and are now able to manage and secure more endpoints without the need for highly skilled staff. For more information, visit https://reaqta.com

 

About AIC

Alpha Intelligence Capital (AIC) is a global venture capital fund investing exclusively in disruptive Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) technology-based companies. AIC has approximately $185 million under its main fund with access to large pools of co-investment capital. AIC’s teams operate out of San Francisco, Hong Kong and Paris. AIC has currently invested in over 19 companies globally, in the US, Israel, Europe and China. For more information, visit https://aicapital.ai

 

About Fortino

Fortino Capital is a pure play European B2B SaaS investor operating out of Amsterdam and Antwerp. Fortino has backed over 70 founders to date and holds c.€430m in AuM across 3 funds, of which 2 are early-stage VC and one PE / growth equity.

 

Media contacts

Elizabeth Lee
Communications Manager
e.lee@reaqta.com

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Cybersecurity Penetration Testing Leader NetSPI Secures $90 Million in Growth Funding Led by KKR

KKR

May 12, 2021

Investment to Fuel Innovation and Growth, Including Global Expansion and Product Innovation

MINNEAPOLIS, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — NetSPI, the leader in enterprise penetration testing and attack surface management, today announced it has raised $90 million in growth funding led by KKR, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures. The investment will be used to further accelerate NetSPI’s rapid growth by expanding the company’s cybersecurity and client experience teams, investing in product innovation, and deepening operations across U.S. and international markets.

“The reality is that cyber security attacks today are inevitable and put organizations at grave risk,” said NetSPI President and Chief Executive Officer Aaron Shilts. “At NetSPI, we strive to stay one step ahead of hackers, breaches, and bad actors by focusing on prevention-based security techniques. Rooted in the founding tenets of the company, our goals are purposely aggressive to help our clients adapt to the constantly evolving threat landscape.”

Since its founding, NetSPI has focused and customized its services to help companies proactively defend themselves from cyberattacks through a robust and innovative technology platform, ensuring computer systems and networks thoroughly identify and address security vulnerabilities in an efficient and comprehensive manner. At a time when cybersecurity spending is expected to exceed $200 billion per year by 2024, according to a recent Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) report, more companies are preparing to fend off sophisticated cyber-attacks and avoid reputational and business risks.

“Our clients rely on us to help secure their ever-evolving attack surface by leveraging our expertise in cloud, red team, application, and network security,” continued Shilts. “This investment from KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures allows NetSPI to better meet this demand while simultaneously fueling growth and innovation as a leader in the booming cybersecurity market. With our investors’ support, NetSPI will continue to transform the industry with a focus on attack surface management, enterprise security testing, and vulnerability management.”

“NetSPI has built a differentiated suite of tech-enabled services that are not only enhancing cybersecurity for complex global enterprises across a wide range of industries but are simultaneously disrupting the traditional penetration testing market in order for these enterprises to security test at scale,” said Ben Pederson, Principal at KKR. “We are excited to invest in NetSPI’s growth as they build and deliver these critically important offensive security solutions.”

Jake Heller, Head of KKR’s Technology Growth team in the Americas, added: “Aaron and his team have a deep appreciation for the needs of their customers and the increasing demand for best-in-class, tech-enabled cybersecurity systems, which we have witnessed firsthand throughout KKR’s global portfolio of companies who rightfully and consistently identify cybersecurity among their top IT priorities.”

KKR is investing in NetSPI through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II. Together with Ten Eleven Ventures, KKR has invested in market-leading cybersecurity companies including Darktrace, KnowBe4, Ping Identity, Cylance, ForgeRock, and ReliaQuest.

“Penetration testing is a critical component of any enterprise’s security program and will continue to be an important part of compliance and regulatory requirements in the future,” said Mark Hatfield, General Partner, Ten Eleven Ventures. “With its deep expertise and automated platform, NetSPI has developed an incredibly effective and efficient approach to penetration testing and attack surface management. We’re thrilled to partner with this exceptional team and look forward to drawing on our cybersecurity expertise to help NetSPI bring its technology to more companies across the globe.”

After spending its first several years as a bootstrapped, profitable business, in 2017 NetSPI partnered with Sunstone Partners, who has been instrumental to the company’s growth post-investment. Gus Alberelli, Managing Director of Sunstone Partners, said: “We’re incredibly fortunate to partner with NetSPI’s team and proud of the company’s extraordinary growth stemming from its technology-enabled penetration testing team. We are excited for KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures to join Sunstone Partners in supporting NetSPI’s growth journey.”

The investment is the latest transaction in a period of accelerated growth for NetSPI. Most recently, NetSPI acquired Silent Break Security and incorporated its proprietary Adversary Simulation and Red Team Toolkit software into the company’s offensive cyber security and attack surface management offerings. In 2020, NetSPI launched Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) powered by its Resolve™ platform. Upcoming additions of risk scoring, vulnerability intelligence, breach and attack simulation, and more will continue to differentiate NetSPI’s technology offerings.

Goodwin Procter LLP advised NetSPI on the transaction and Latham & Watkins LLP advised KKR and Ten Eleven Ventures.

About NetSPI
NetSPI is the leader in enterprise security testing and attack surface management, partnering with nine of the top 10 U.S. banks, three of the world’s five largest health care companies, the largest global cloud providers, and many of the Fortune® 500. NetSPI experts perform deep dive manual penetration testing of application, network, and cloud attack surfaces, historically testing over 1 million assets to find 4 million unique vulnerabilities. NetSPI offers Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS) through its Resolve™ platform and adversary simulation through its Red Team Tool Kit. NetSPI is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN and is a portfolio company of growth equity firm Sunstone Partners, KKR, and Ten Eleven Ventures. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

About KKR
KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management and capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life, and reinsurance products under the management of The Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com  and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

About Ten Eleven Ventures
Ten Eleven Ventures is the original venture capital firm focused solely on investing in digital security. The firm invests globally and at all stages, from seed to growth (the latter via its Joint Investment Alliance with KKR). Since its founding in Silicon Valley in 2015, Ten Eleven Ventures has raised nearly $US 500 million and invested in 30 leading cybersecurity companies including KnowBe4, Darktrace, Twistlock, Verodin, Cylance, and Ping Identity. For more information, please visit www.1011vc.com or follow us on Twitter @1011vc.

About Sunstone Partners
Sunstone Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that makes majority and minority investments in technology-enabled services and software businesses. Recently recognized as one of Inc.’s 2020 PE 50 founder-friendly private equity firms for entrepreneurs, the firm seeks to partner with exceptional management teams, often as their first institutional capital partner, to help accelerate organic growth and fund acquisitions. Founded in 2015, the firm has $800 million of committed capital to its first two funds. For more information, visit www.sunstonepartners.com.

Media Contacts:

Jean Hill, Maccabee PR for NetSPI
jean@maccabee.com
(612) 294-3154

KKR
Cara Major or Miles Radcliffe-Trenner
Media@KKR.com
(212) 750-8300

Ten Eleven Ventures
Megan Dubofsky
mdubofsky@1011vc.com
(917) 576-5590

SOURCE NetSPI

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