UK cyber security company Darktrace embarks on funding round to secure $400m valuation
UK cyber security company Darktrace has turned to Silicon Valley in a bid to secure funding which would see the company valued at $400m (£283.2m).
The company, which is headquartered in both Cambridge, UK, and San Francisco, USA, was founded in 2013 by mathematics and computer specialists from the University of Cambridge and intelligence experts from MI5 and GCHQ.
In February, Darktrace reported that its revenues had increased 450 per cent year-on-year, thanks to growing demand for cyber security. Clients of the company include BT, law firm Irwin Mitchell and cosmetics giant Sisley.
However, sources told the Telegraph, which reported the story over the weekend, that the company was embarking on its latest round of funding as it feared that appetite for technology venture capital funding was wearing thin.
Darktrace's website states that the fledgling company has already raised $40m in previous funding activities, with investors including Invoke Capital, Talis Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Summit Partners.
In August last year, the relative newcomer to the cyber security scene was one of four UK firms to be named as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.
Darktrace declined to comment on the valuation.
A slew of recent high-profile hacks and data leaks, including the Panama Papers, TalkTalk and Ashley Madison, has no doubt helped to bolster the popularity of cyber security solutions.
However, last December, Magister Advisors warned that investors were starting to become wary, and cautioned that 2016 could see the downfall of at least one tech unicorn.