- General
- November 12, 2020
- 5 minutes read
Vista Leads $100M Menlo Security Round
Robert Smith, CEO, Vista Equity Partners.Photo credit: World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Menlo Security, a Mountain View-based cybersecurity startup,…
 |
| Robert Smith, CEO, Vista Equity Partners. Photo credit: World Economic Forum, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 |
Menlo Security, a Mountain View-based cybersecurity startup, has announced that it’s raised $100 million in Series E funding that places its valuation at $800 million. The new round of funding was led by private equity firm Vista, with participation from the likes of General Catalyst, JP Morgan, and Neuberger Berman. Menlo says the new funding will fuel its market expansion and enable increased investment in its engineering efforts.
With the new round of funding, Menlo Security has now raised a total of about $260 million in funding. Before now, the company was backed by investors including well-known names such as Sutter Hill Ventures, American Express Ventures, and banking firm HSBC.
Menlo Security is a cloud-based security platform that’s used by enterprises to secure their networks and prevent malicious attacks. Over the past year, the company says it’s seen a 155% growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and a 100% increase in average deal size. Menlo’s customers include major banks and credit card issuers as well as energy and other critical infrastructure companies.
According to Menlo’s Chief Executive, Amir Ben-Efraim, the company is eyeing a possible IPO as the next step after this new round of funding. Menlo was founded eight years ago so assumedly still has more time to grow as a private company before calling on the public markets for an exit. The cybersecurity company currently has about 270 employees and aims to grow its workforce by up to 50% with its new funding.
Vista, the private equity firm that led Menlo’s new round has added yet another cybersecurity company to its portfolio of investments. The private equity firm, which manages over $58 billion in capital, has in the past spent billions of dollars to both invest in and outright acquire several cybersecurity companies such as Infoblox, SecureLink, and Ping Identity.
Vista is one of the biggest American investors in technology firms, on par with the likes of KKR, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, and Bain Capital.
