UK cybersecurity vendor Darktrace raises $75m to double valuation

Series D round takes Darktrace's total raised to $180m

UK cybersecurity vendor Darktrace has raised $75m (£58m) in Series D funding, reportedly taking its valuation to $825m.

The Cambridge-based vendor is backed by Autonomy founder Mike Lynch and builds its offering around its Enterprise Immune System, which uses machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to spot cyber-threats.

The funding round more than doubles Darktrace's previously reported valuation of $400m from the time of its fundraising last year.

The latest round was led by Insight Venture Partners, which has previously invested in Cylance, Mimecast and Veeam.

Nicole Eagan, CEO at Darktrace, said: "Insight Venture Partners has a proven record of partnering with tech-focused firms and its backing of Darktrace is another strong validation of the fundamental and differentiated technology that the Enterprise Immune System represents.

"It marks another critical milestone for the company as we experience unprecedented growth in the US market and are rapidly expanding across Latin America and Asia-Pacific in particular, as organisations are increasingly turning to our AI approach to enhance their resilience to cyber-attackers."

Darktrace has now raised around $180m in funding, and claims its total contract value has reached $200m - an increase of 140 per cent from last year.

Jeff Horing, managing director at Insight Venture Partners said: "In just four years, Darktrace has established itself as a world leader in AI-powered security.

"Insight is proud to partner with Darktrace to continue to drive its strong growth and superior product market fit."

Indraneel Arampatta, cybersecurity analyst at Megabuyte, told CRN that Darktrace is investing in both its internal sales teams and its global partner network.

"Darktrace seems to be putting a lot of money into building out a serious salesforce, but they also mention that they have quite a lot of partners so it's not just investing in direct sales but in its channel partner network as well," he said.

"The funding from last year was around expanding its presence in the US, which seems to have worked, and now the funding from this year is for Latin America and Asia-Pacific.

"The UK definitely seems to be a bit of a flag bearer. Even though it is still relatively young, it has managed to grow significantly. It is still very much in the growth and investment phase but it seems to have an aggressive sales strategy and an aggressive investment strategy."