Israeli cybersecurity company Cybereason has raised $275 million in a financing round led by Steve Mnuchin's new fund Liberty Strategic Capital. Mnuchin served as US Secretary of the Treasury in the Trump administration. Also participating in the round was SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
Mnuchin has met with representatives of several Israeli companies in recent months and this is his first investment in his new career as a managing partner of the fund. He has a rich history in the interface between technology and capital, serving as a vice president in the IT division of Goldman Sachs. In his position as US Secretary of the Treasury he was involved in shaping US policy on cybersecurity and pushed sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea for cyberattacks as well as on other cyber criminals.
Mnuchin will join the Cybereason board of directors, and Liberty’s Senior Advisor, General Joseph F. Dunford (Ret.), will join Cybereason’s advisory board. General Dunford served as Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff (2015-2019). However, former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, who "Globes" revealed last week is to head Softbank's new office in Israel, will not be joining Cybereason's board at this stage.
Cybereason completed its financing round at an estimated valuation of between $3.1 billion and $3.3 billion, triple that in its previous financing round two years ago. This latest financing round does not involve any secondary element with employees and founders realizing options, so that all the money will enter the company's coffers.
In a sure sign that Cybereason is preparing for a public offering, the round also includes backing from Irving Investors, and certain funds advised by Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC.
Cybereason, which provides cybersecurity and protection against cyberattacks to government authorities, and businesses, has 850 employees including 350 in Israel, and is now looking to hire an additional 200 employees. The company has now raised a total of $664 million.
Cybereason cofounder and CEO Lior Div said, "Over the past year, we’ve experienced hypergrowth across the globe as defenders recognize that ending advanced attacks isn’t possible using solutions that rely on meaningless alerts and human intervention. Existing - even ‘next-gen’ - solutions are fundamentally flawed, creating the dynamic we have today where the defender is constantly struggling to keep pace with attackers. Unlike our prolific alert-generating competitors, Cybereason takes an approach that enables defenders to end malicious operations instantly, resulting in the most comprehensive prevention, detection and response solution on the market.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 14, 2021
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