Cyber security startup Silverfort raises $116 million in late-stage fundraise
By Manya Saini
(Reuters) - Identity protection company Silverfort said on Tuesday it had raised $116 million in a late-stage funding round, led by investment firm Brighton Park Capital with participation from Citi Ventures and General Motors Ventures.
Cyber security has taken center stage in recent years as companies and other major institutions, including governments, ramp up spending to protect their assets, customers and employees against hacks and data theft.
Analysts and industry experts expect demand for identity threat prevention and multi-factor authentication technologies to remain robust over the long term.
Riding on the positive sector outlook, cyber security stocks surged last year with SentinelOne gaining 88%, while, both, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike Holdings more than doubled.
Silverfort intends to use the fresh capital to further develop its existing product line and expand into new areas, CEO and co-founder Hed Kovetz told Reuters.
Silverfort's high-profile customers include online travel platform Agoda, package delivery giant United Parcel Service and luggage maker and retailer Samsonite, its website showed.
It has also inked a strategic partnership with technology heavyweight Microsoft.
On plans to go public, Kovetz said Silverfort was not looking at a public listing immediately but is in a financially strong position and could consider acquisitions after recording robust growth last year.
The series D funding round takes the total capital raised by Silverfort to $222 million. Other investors in the round included Acrew Capital, Greenfield Partners, Maor Investments, Vintage Investment Partners and Singtel Innov8.
"Looking ahead, we plan to invest heavily in going deeper into our existing products, and expanding into new areas to ensure we have the most complete, end-to-end identity protection platforms for our customers," Kovetz said.
"2023 was a year of tremendous growth for Silverfort and the fourth quarter was our strongest quarter on record," added Kovetz.
(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)