Darktrace, a British company that specializes in artificial intelligence-based cybersecurity, has launched a successful IPO (initial public offering) in London.
Darktrace shares opened 38% higher on April 30. The shares were priced at 250 pence in its London listing that valued the company at 1.7 billion pounds ($2.37 billion), lower than an original target closer to $4 billion, Reuters, reported.
The MSSP Alert report below, written April 14 and update April 26, describes Darktrace's cybersecurity business growth, market focus, revenues, channel partnerships and more.
1. Annual Revenue: $199.1 million in 2020, up 45 percent from $137 million in 2019.
2. Annual Net Losses: $28.7 million in 2020, down from $34.7 million in 2019.
3. Valuation (pre-IPO): Darktrace's target IPO valuation is $2.6 billion, Bloomberg reports. That's up from a $1.65 billion valuation as of a Series E funding round completed in September 2018.
4. Biggest Investor: Invoke Capital, the venture fund of UK entrepreneur Mike Lynch.
5. Cybersecurity Offerings: Darktrace offers AI technology that autonomously detects, investigates and responds to advanced cyber threats, including insider threats, ransomware and data loss and supply chain vulnerabilities. The company's cyber defense solutions are used to protect cloud, email and Internet of Things (IoT) environments, networks, endpoints and industrial systems.
6. Channel Partnerships: Darktrace has a partner program that enables MSPs, MSSPs, VARs, and other technology resellers to offer its cybersecurity solutions to global organizations. Optiv, a Top 250 MSSP, is a Darktrace partner. Other Darktrace partners include Lyrical Security, Synoptek and SHI.
7. Recent Hires: Darktrace hired James Sporle as its general counsel and company secretary in April 2021; Sporle previously helped online food delivery company Just Eat go public on the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 Index. The company also named Gordon Hurst as its chair in March 2021; Hurst formerly served as group finance director at business processing outsourcing company Capita for 19 years and was "instrumental" in growing the company into a FTSE 100 business, Darktrace noted.
8. Competition: Darktrace's chief rivals include FireEye, CrowdStrike, AT&T Cybersecurity, Awake Security and Palo Alto Networks.
9. Customer Base, Employees and Headquarters: Darktrace provides cyber defense solutions to over 4,700 organizations in more than 100 countries. The company employs 1,500 workers globally, and its headquarters are located in Cambridge, UK.
10. Launch: Darktrace was founded in 2013 by a group of former intelligence experts and mathematicians.
Blog originally published April 14, 2021. Updated regularly thereafter with new Darktrace IPO information.
