Lacework raises US$1.3bn at $8.3bn valuation
Lacework, a data-driven security platform for the cloud, has raised US$1.3 billion in growth funding at a valuation of $8.3 billion.
With this capital, which is the largest funding round in security industry history according to the company, Lacework will continue to invest in rapidly scaling its business globally, building on the recent momentum of more than 3x year-over-year revenue growth.
This Series D round was led by existing investors Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global Management with participation from new investors including Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Durable Capital, Franklin Templeton, General Catalyst, and XN. Coatue, Dragoneer, Liberty Global Ventures, and Snowflake Ventures, all existing investors, also participated.
Extending the company’s growth
Founded in 2015, the company targets vulnerabilities in both cloud and on-premises infrastructure. It uses a combination of agents and agentless monitors to gather data from a variety of sources to build a complete picture of what is running in a production environment.
“As organisations of all sizes continue building applications in the cloud, more critical data will be exposed and exploited. Lacework is building an impressive business by offering companies a transformative approach to securing their data in the cloud. That approach is already driving 3x year-over-year revenue growth, and we believe there is still substantial opportunity ahead. We’re excited to partner with Lacework as it pursues its strategy for long-term sustainable growth,” said Dennis Lynch, Head of Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley).
Lacework will use this funding to extend its lead in the cloud security market by fueling product innovation that expands the company’s total addressable market and pursuing additional strategic acquisitions, like the recently announced Soluble transaction.
The addition of Soluble enhances the capabilities of the Lacework Cloud Security Platform to further enable organisations to integrate security practices earlier in their software delivery process.
Securing cloud environments
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, organisations rapidly moved to the cloud, enabling more remote work. According to an IDC report, 98% companies surveyed in H1 2021 experienced at least one cloud data breach in the past 18 months. At the same time, 31% of respondents said they’re spending more than $50 million per year on cloud infrastructure, opening them up to additional attacks if their cloud environments aren’t configured correctly.
“With enterprises shifting faster to cloud-native architectures, the cybersecurity industry is in dire need of increased automation, higher signal-to-noise, and fewer point solutions. This is a daunting task, and it requires a platform that can scale with the enormous growth of data flowing through an organisation’s cloud infrastructure. To this end, Lacework has built something that’s powerful and unique, positioning it to be one of this generation’s most important cybersecurity companies,” said Matt Cioppa, Vice President, Franklin Templeton.