George Kurtz, CEO, CrowdStrike. Photo credit: Seb Daly/Web Summit via Sportsfile, under Creative Commons license

Cybsecurity company CrowdStrike has announced that it’s reached a deal to acquire Preempt Security, an enterprise cybersecurity upstart, in a deal valued at $96 million, consisting of $86 million in cash and $10 million in stock and options that’ll be subject to vesting conditions. As a privately-held startup, Preempt, which was founded in 2014, has raised roughly $27 million in funding. Among its investors include notable names like Intel Capital, General Catalyst, and Blackstone Group.

CrowdStrike’s new acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter of this year. The company will integrate Preempt’s authentication and identity security service into its own cybersecurity suite, as it seeks to grow and compete against established firms such as Symantec, Kaspersky, and McAfee despite being a newer entrant that was founded nine years ago and went public only last year. CrowdStrike has actually grown rapidly, with revenue in its most recent quarter up 84% year-over-year to $199 million. Losses for its most recent quarter came at $30 million, compared to $52 million in the same quarter last year. As of its most recent quarter, CrowdStrike had $1.07 billion in cash on its balance sheet, enough to shoulder the $86 million cash portion of Preempt’s acquisition and further cater to expansion. 

CrowdStrike’s Preempt Security purchase is the publicly-traded cybersecurity company’s second-ever acquisition since its founding. 

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