Cylance Announces $100 Million Series D Funding Round Led by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Insight Venture Partners
New Investment to Accelerate Cylance's Broad Adoption and Expand Its Global Reach
IRVINE, California, June 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cylance® Inc., the first cybersecurity company to successfully apply artificial intelligence algorithms to predictively identify and stop malware and advanced threats, today announces that it has completed the initial closing of a $100 million Series D funding round led by funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Insight Venture Partners and included follow-on investments by the company's existing investors.
The funding will be used to support the company's rapid business growth by expanding sales, marketing and engineering programs for Cylance endpoint protection go-to-market strategies. Since its introduction, Cylance has experienced record growth with product billings and customer growth of 1089 percent and 785 percent respectively, propelling the company to achieve its mission many years earlier than anticipated. In its Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP) earlier this year, Gartner called Cylance "the fastest growing EPP startup in the past ten years."
Today CylancePROTECT® is protecting millions of endpoints and over 1,000 customers from never before seen attacks, i.e., zero-days, preventing these customers from downtime, distraction and brand tarnishing. The product is uniquely able to identify and prevent zero-days and other forms of advanced and targeted attacks currently impacting businesses and government agencies worldwide, thereby eliminating the need for individual security teams to analyze and develop expertise in defending against each new cyberattack. CylancePROTECT is actively protecting countless, once-previous victims of attacks, all without the need for cloud-supported conviction or regular updates.
"We're enthusiastic about supporting the terrific management team at Cylance, a company well-positioned for growth with a strong foundation in the cyber-security space," said Viral Patel, a Managing Director in Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities. "Cylance's strong track record, including at Blackstone portfolio companies, deepens our conviction in the value that this platform can offer across sectors."
"We have been tracking Cylance since they came to market, and are thrilled to be partnering with them," said Mike Triplett, Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners. "Cylance's team and technology have delivered on exactly what they've promised: elegant and effective prevention at the endpoint, in addition to impressive customers and growth."
"We founded Cylance almost four years ago with a singular mission: protect those who cannot protect themselves, and empower those who can," said Cylance CEO Stuart McClure. "Our goal of reinventing endpoint security by using machine learning to think like a cyber hacker has been achieved and we now must ensure that it is put in the hands of security leaders inside enterprises, organizations, governments and small businesses as quickly as possible."
About Cylance Inc.
Cylance is the first company to successfully apply artificial intelligence, algorithmic science and machine learning to cybersecurity and improve the way companies, governments and end users proactively solve the world's most difficult security problems. Using a breakthrough mathematical process, Cylance quickly and accurately identifies what is safe and what is a threat, expanding beyond what is in a blacklist or whitelist. By coupling sophisticated math and machine learning with a unique understanding of a hacker's mentality, Cylance provides the technology and services that are predictive and preventive against advanced threats. For more information, visit: www.cylance.com.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world's leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with over $340 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $13 billion and invested in more than 250 companies worldwide. Our mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. For more information on Insight and all of its investments, visit http://www.insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter: @insightpartners.
Media Contacts
Cynthia Siemens
Director, PR and Communications
Cylance Inc.
+1(949) 242-9221
media@cylance.com
Jill Gerig
InkHouse PR
+1(916) 215-3286
cylance@inkhouse.com
Share this article