Cylance follows CrowdStrike's lead with Series E funding round

Next-gen security vendor raises $120m, taking total funding to nearly $300m

Cylance has raised $120m (£91m) in Series E funding to continue its global expansion.

The next-generation security vendor's investment round comes one day after competitor CrowdStrike announced its own Series E round of $200m.

CrowdStrike yesterday claimed to be valued at $3bn, while Cylance did not release information about its valuation.

Cylance also revealed that its revenue topped $130m in its fiscal 2018, up 90 per cent on the previous year.

The vendor's CEO Stuart McClure said: "Cylance has proved that artificial intelligence (AI) can defend against cybersecurity problems that were previously thought impossible to prevent.

"With the most advanced application of AI in end-point security, Cylance products continuously learn and improve over time, enabling customers to achieve a state of ‘perpetual prevention' and creating a simple silence on the end-point."

Cylance has now raised just under $300m in funding, according to Crunchbase.

The vendor said it will use the funding to expand its footprint across EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

Last week Cylance's channel boss Tim Mackie told CRN that the vendor plans to boost its EMEA revenue to make up around 30 per cent of its revenue by 2020.

The Series E round was led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities, with senior managing director Viral Patel adding: "Blackstone was an early believer in Cylance's approach of applying AI to prevent one of the most difficult issues businesses face today: cyberattacks that disrupt operations and damage reputations."