Cyber security company ForeScout Technologies Inc. has raised $76 million in a financing round led by Wellington Management Company LLP. Now valued at $1 billion, ForeScout has tripled its valuation over the past 18 months while also surpassing $125 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015. The company has achieved in excess of 50% compounded annual growth rate since 2012, having grown at that scale while operating near free cash flow neutral.
The additional capital will be used to expand global field operations, build a world-class support organization and increase R&D efforts to accelerate leadership in the Internet of Things (IoT). This investment underscores the growing demand for IoT security as organizations grapple with this critical new threat. Gartner predicts there will be 30 billion connected devices by 2020.
Headquartered in Campbell, California, ForeScout's development center is in Ramat Hahayil, Tel Aviv where it has 150 employees. The company was founded in 2000 by Chairman Prof. Hezy Yeshurun from Tel Aviv's Faculty of Computer Science, CTO Oded Comay, and senior manager Doron Shikmoni. The company has raised $80 million to date before this latest financing and investors include Pitango Venture Capital, Accel Partners, Amadeus and others. Pitango led the company's first financing round in 2001 and partner Rami Kalish serves on the board of directors.
ForeScout CEO Michael DeCesare said, “It took 25 years for the world to get to 5 billion connected devices, but with the explosion of the IoT we’ll see around 30 billion by 2020an entirely new approach to security is required. Device proliferation and IoT deployments are easy entrances for cyber criminals if not detected and protected. With agentless visibility, intuitive automated controls and a commitment to integrating with leading security and IT management solutions, ForeScout is well-positioned to own the burgeoning IoT security market.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 21, 2016
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