At a glance.
- Cellebrite acquires Digital Clues AG.
- Appgate goes public.
- Aura and Cato Networks each raise $200 million.
Mergers and acquisitions.
Australian cybersecurity consultancies Solista, CXO Security, Privasec, and Naviro have merged to form a single entity called "Sekuro," CRN reports. Robert McAdam from CXO Security will serve as Sekuro's CEO. McAdam stated, "The creation of Sekuro sets a new standard because we have co-created rather than undertaken a traditional merger or acquisition. None of the original four vendors have received a cent from this integration; rather we chose to give up our individual identities to co-create Sekuro in a quest for strong security posture, knowing it’s exactly what Australian businesses need to be resilient."
Israeli digital forensics firm Cellebrite has agreed to acquire open-source intelligence firm Switzerland-headquartered open-source intelligence firm Digital Clues AG. Cellebrite stated, "The acquisition strengthens Cellebrite's market-leading Digital Intelligence platform, reinforces our position as the end-to-end technology partner capable of digitizing the entire investigative workflow, and is expected to aid in growing the company’s footprint within law enforcement intelligence and investigation units across the globe."
Santa Rosa, California-based electronics testing and measurement equipment provider Keysight Technologies has acquired Culver City, California-headquartered network simulation and cybersecurity assessment company SCALABLE Network Technologies. SCALABLE's CEO and founder Dr. Rajive Bagrodia stated, "Joining forces with Keysight provides an excellent pathway to dramatically expand the use of our innovative network digital twin solutions across broad swaths of commercial and defense markets. Working together with Keysight, we will accelerate the use of modeling and simulation capabilities to provide secure and reliable connectivity solutions to our customers worldwide."
Dell will complete its spin-off of VMware on November 1st, CRN reports.
Investments and exits.
Florida-headquartered secure access software company Appgate has gone public after merging with Newtown Lane Marketing, Incorporated. The company stated, "Upon closing of the merger, Newtown changed its name to Appgate, Inc., and the Company’s common stock is now quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “NTWN”. Appgate intends to have its symbol changed to “APGT” as soon as possible following completion of the merger. Appgate intends to seek to uplist to Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange as soon as possible following satisfaction of applicable listing requirements, which is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2022."
Massachusetts-headquartered identity protection company Aura has raised $200 million in a Series F round, bringing its valuation to $2.5 billion. The round was led by Madrone Capital Partners, with participation from TenEleven Ventures, General Catalyst, WndrCo, Warburg Pincus, and Accel. The company stated, "With this investment, Aura will turbocharge its growth. The company will invest to dramatically increase its product, engineering and go-to-market teams, with plans to hire more than 200 employees, bringing the total team to more than 1,000. The company also plans to launch a national advertising campaign to drive awareness."
Tel Aviv-based SASE platform provider Cato Networks has raised $200 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with the participation of existing investors Greylock, Aspect Ventures / Acrew Capital, Coatue, Singtel Innov8, and Shlomo Kramer. The funding round brings the company's valuation to $2.5 billion. The company says the funding "will fuel Cato’s sales, technology, and business growth to further support the security and global networking needs of large enterprises."
Israeli cybersecurity company Cybereason has received a $50 million investment from Google Cloud, VentureBeat reports.
Palo Alto, California-based application data security company Skyflow has raised $45 million in a Series B round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Mouro Capital, MS&AD Ventures, Canvas Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Gokul Rajaram. According to SecurityWeek, Skyflow "says it wants to use the new investment to further grow its sales, marketing, and engineering teams. The company plans to hire 100 new employees by the end of 2022."
Kansas City, Missouri-based data privacy firm TripleBlind has raised $24 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst and Mayo Clinic, with participation from AVG Basecamp Fund, Accenture Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Flyover Capital, KCRise Fund, NextGen Venture Partners, and Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health.
San Francisco-based cyber insurance provider At-Bay has secured $20 million in an extension to its Series D round, bringing its total Series D funding to $205 million. The extension was led by ION Crossover Partners.
South Dakota-based cybersecurity investigation company Query.AI has raised $15 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by SYN Ventures, with participation from existing investors ClearSky Security and South Dakota Equity Partners. The company says it "will use the new funding to scale up its product development to meet rapidly increasing market demand and support its exponential customer growth."
Tel Aviv-based Business Application Mesh security company Valence has emerged from stealth with $7 million in funding from YL Ventures.
Executive moves.
Optiv has hired Cheryl VanVoorhees Executive Vice President of Operations and Rocky DeStefano as Chief Technology Officer.
Interactive has hired Michael Dowling as Head of Cyber Security, CRN reports.
BakerHostetler has added Daniel Kaufman as a partner in its Digital Assets and Data Management (DADM) practice group. Kaufman most recently served as Acting Director for the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission.
[redacted] (and the square brackets are part of the company's name, not an editorial addition) has added William Crowell, former Deputy Director of the NSA, to its board of directors, Dark Reading reports.
Sepio Systems has added cybersecurity influencer and Georgetown University adjunct professor Chuck Brooks to its advisory board.