Darktrace hits $1.65bn valuation after Series E round

Cybersecurity vendor bags additional $50m

UK cybersecurity vendor Darktrace claims to be valued at $1.65bn (£1.27bn) after raising $50m in a Series E funding round.

The artificial intelligence firm, headed up by CEO Nicole Eagan, claimed to have seen its revenue increase 100 per cent year on year in July.

This latest funding round will be used to fuel an international expansion which has seen it open offices in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Sao Paolo.

Eagan said: "Darktrace continues to enjoy strong growth in new and existing geographies, and is now the most widely used enterprise AI on the market.

"The increase in our valuation in just a few months is testament to the fundamental power of our Enterprise Immune System. As we begin to see real-world attacks leveraging offensive AI, Darktrace will be indispensable in keeping defenders one step ahead."

Darktrace claims to have increased its headcount by 60 per cent over the last year, giving it an employee base of 750 staff.

This latest investment round was led by Vitruvian Partners, and included existing investors KKR and 1011 Ventures.

Darktrace's total funding now stands at $229.5m, according to Crunchbase.

Sophie Bower-Straziota, managing director at Vitruvian, said: "Darktrace has built a unique combination of world-class AI capabilities, deep cyberdomain expertise, and a highly effective business model.

"This has rapidly created scale and a leading edge over all competitors.

"We are delighted to be leading this financing round, as Darktrace represents exactly the type of highly innovative company Vitruvian seeks to invest behind and support."