Zero belief unicorn Illumio closes $225M Collection F led by Thoma Brava – TechCrunch
Illumio, a self-styled zero belief unicorn, has closed a $225 million Collection F funding spherical at a $2.75 billion valuation.
The spherical was led by Thoma Bravo, which just lately purchased cybersecurity vendor Proofpoint by $12.3 billion, and supported by Franklin Templeton, Hamilton Lane, and Blue Owl Capital.
The spherical lands greater than two years after Illumio’s Collection E funding spherical through which it raised $65 million, and fueled hypothesis of an impending IPO. The corporate’s founder, Andrew Rubin, nonetheless isn’t able to be pressed on whether or not the corporate plans to go public, although he advised TechCrunch: “If we do our job proper, and if we make our prospects profitable, I’d wish to suppose that might be a part of our journey.”
Illumio’s newest funding spherical is well-timed. Not solely does it come amid an enormous rise in profitable cyberattacks which present that a number of the extra conventional cybersecurity measures are now not working, from the SolarWinds hack in early 2020 to the more moderen assault on Colonial Pipeline, nevertheless it additionally comes simply weeks after President Joe Biden issued an government order pushing federal businesses to implement important cybersecurity initiatives, together with a zero belief structure.
“And simply a few weeks in the past, Anne Neuberger [deputy national security adviser for cybersecurity] put out a memo on White Home stationary to all of company America saying we’re residing via a ransomware pandemic, and right here’s six issues that we’re imploring you to do,” Rubin says. “One among them was to section your community.”
Illumio focuses on defending information facilities and cloud networks via one thing it calls micro-segmentation, which it claims makes it simpler to handle and guard towards potential breaches, in addition to to include a breach if one happens. This zero belief method to safety — an idea centered on the idea that companies mustn’t mechanically belief something inside or outdoors its perimeters — has by no means been extra essential for organizations, in response to Illumio.
“Cyber occasions are now not constrained to cyber house,” says Rubin. “That’s why individuals are lastly saying that, after 30 years of relying solely on detection to maintain us secure, we can not depend on it 100{69439eabc38bbe67fb47fc503d1b0f790fcef507f9cafca8a4ef4fbfe163a7c5} of the time. Zero belief is now turning into the mantra.”
Illumio tells TechCrunch it’s going to use the newly raised funds to make a “large” funding in its subject operations and channel associate community, and to put money into innovation, engineering and its product.
The late-stage startup, which was based in 2013 and relies in California, says greater than 10{69439eabc38bbe67fb47fc503d1b0f790fcef507f9cafca8a4ef4fbfe163a7c5} of Fortune 100 corporations — together with Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas SA and Salesforce — now use its expertise to guard their information facilities, networks and different functions. It noticed 100{69439eabc38bbe67fb47fc503d1b0f790fcef507f9cafca8a4ef4fbfe163a7c5} worldwide development through the pandemic, and says it’s additionally broadening its buyer base throughout extra industries.
The corporate has raised extra now raised extra $550 million from traders embody Andreessen Horowitz, Basic Catalyst and Formation 8.
