Netskope Inc., a startup that provides security for cloud networks said it has received a $300 million late-stage funding round valuing at $7.5 billion. The company said Iconiq Growth was their lead investor in the Series H round, backed up by contributions from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Base Partners, Sapphire Ventures, and Geodesic Capital and Sequoia Capital.
“We started Netskope because we saw a cloud-centric, digital-first future of business that simply can’t be achieved using legacy approaches to security and networking,” said Netskope co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Beri.
The company is said to compete in a fast-growing part of the cybersecurity market that Gartner Inc. calls the SASE (secure access service edge) segment. These products provide features for three different tasks including blocking malicious websites as a company’s employees browse the web, helping them securely log into work applications and securing data they transfer from cloud services. Netskope said it is addressing the biggest challenge by detecting the use of unmanaged accounts. It allows enterprises to purchase the capabilities from one provider rather than three different companies, which simplifies operations.
According to a statement, Netskope’s security cloud delivers cloud-native SASE platform of technologies that enable secure enterprise digital transformation and secure remote connectivity using integrated Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Secure Web Gateway (SWG), and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) capabilities.
This product approach positions the startup to address a fast-growing market opportunity. Netskope’s login management and data protection features, operating on top of NewEdge, carry out the necessary cybersecurity procedures, then forward the traffic to the relevant service. Netskope claims that the system manages about 20 per cent of all commercial Office 365 traffic globally.
Netskope has raised more than $1 billion in funding to date.
