Hornetsecurity nearly triples UK partner base with new acquisition

Email cloud security provider acquires backup vendor Altaro

Email cloud security specialist Hornetsecurity has tripled its UK partner count after acquiring backup vendor Altaro.

Altaro marks the third acquisition for Hornetsecurity in as many years, following the acquisitions of Spanish email security provider Spamina in 2019 and UK-based EveryCloud Technologies last year.

Hornetsecurity's chief exec Daniel Hofmann told CRN that these have all been strategic acquisitions to fulfil Hornetsecurity's goal of broadening its capabilities beyond email and capturing more of the European market.

"The biggest portion of our business is in email security and it is a space where we are a market leader in Europe," he said.

"When we look at extending or other security and compliance offerings, I would say that backup is a big milestone in our product portfolio."

"We want to be more than an email provider, we want to be a cloud security vendor for all customers for all cloud services that they use in their day-to-day business."

Malta-founded Altaro specialises in backup solutions for VMware, physical servers, network endpoints and Microsoft Office 365. It was co-founded by its CEO David Vella, who will now take charge of product management in the wider Hornetsecurity organisation.

Both Altaro and Hornetsecurity are channel-centric companies, with the backup vendor adding 810 partners to its new owner's existing base of 548 in the UK. Hofmann stated that and he intends to expand its channel in the UK over the coming months.

"Partners should expect new products and a much more comprehensive product portfolio in the 365 environment," he elaborated.

"Another important step is to bring many new partners on - especially in the UK - in the next couple of months and that they can sell the services to their customers."

Hofmann is ambitious about becoming the market leader in cloud security in the European market and M&A is central to this goal, he said.

"Hornetsecurity's organic growth is 40 per cent year-on-year, but our main goal is to grow much faster," he said.

"Europe is the primary goal for us and to expand the business [there]. In order to achieve that accelerated growth, we need to do acquisitions, especially in product space and new markets."