Israel-based cybersecurity technology provider Cybereason closed a $59m series C round yesterday led by internet and telecommunications company SoftBank, which invested $50m according to the Wall Street Journal.
The round also included venture capital firms Charles River Ventures (CRV) and Spark Capital, both of which participated as existing investors.
Founded by former members of the Israeli intelligence agency’s cybersecurity unit, Cybereason produces software that combines big data, behavioural analytics and machine learning in an automated process to discover more complex cyberattacks.
Japan-based SoftBank made the investment as part of a strategic collaboration agreement through which the two companies plan to jointly build a software product that protects Japanese businesses against cyberattacks. Cybereason plans to use the series C capital to accelerate company growth.
Ken Miyauchi, chief executive of SoftBank, said: “SoftBank works to obtain cutting edge technology and outstanding business models to lead the information revolution.
“Our deployment of the Cybereason platform internally gave us firsthand knowledge of the value it provides, and led to our decision to invest. I am confident Cybereason and SoftBank’s new product offering will bring a new level of security to Japanese organisations.”
Cybereason has now raised approximately $89m in funding since it was founded, including $25m from a series B round led by Spark Capital in May this year. The round also included aerospace company Lockheed Martin and CRV, which had previously invested $4.6m in Cybereason in February 2014.
Lior Div, co-founder and CEO of Cybereason, said yesterday: “We built our relationship with SoftBank to mirror the success we achieved with Lockheed Martin, which also invested in and built a joint go-to-market plan with us.
“This model enables us to maintain our agility and focus on innovation while leveraging the credibility, resources and experience that only industry giants bring to the table.”