Cybersecurity Firm iSight Eyes $100M Funding Round

Cyber intel company iSight Partners plans to raise $100 million or more in the coming months as it prepared for an initial public offering slated for early 2016.

Cyber intel company iSight Partners plans to raise $100 million or more in the coming months as it prepares for an initial public offering slated for the end of 2016.

According to the company’s CEO John Watters, iSight Partners hopes to see debt or equity later this year and use the new capital to fund product development and international expansion, Reuters reported Wednesday (Aug. 19).

iSight Partners has received attention for its cyberthreat research, which has included both Russian and Iranian high-profile espionage campaigns, Watters told Reuters. The company also services some well-known agencies and businesses, such as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Blackstone.

The CEO also confirmed that the company could begin the process of selecting IPO bankers as early as Q1 of 2016. But Watters has no plans to take the company public at a valuation of less than $1 billion.

iSight Partner’s bookings and revenue growth rates are expected to jump 50 percent in 2015, which is a big boost from 40 percent in 2014.

Watters told Reuters the company’s growth is expected to continue to accelerate in 2016 as well, with iSight Partners teaming up with other security and technology companies that plan to utilize the “powered by the iSight platform” cyber intelligence program.

Cybersecurity startups are making waves in the investment world, with venture capitalists jumping at the chance to grab a foothold in the growing cybersecurity market.

According to The Wall Street Journal, researcher CB Insights found that the first half of 2015 saw investors putting $1.2 billion into cybersecurity startups, which is a drastic increase from 2013’s first half, when $771 million was invested in the cybersecurity-related companies.

The number isn’t too surprising considering the stakes are high when it comes to data breaches.

A report issued earlier this year by security research firm Ponemon Institute and authentication tech provider Duo Security found recovery from a data breach takes an average of 45 days at a cost of $35,414 per day, with the expense split among direct labor (26 percent), cash outlay (22 percent), productivity loss (21 percent), overhead (15 percent) and indirect labor (14 percent).

As if the outlook on cybercrime wasn’t bad enough, Juniper Research estimates the average data breach cost in 2020 will top $150 million.

This may explain why venture capitalists and corporate customers are showing such an increased interest in cybersecurity startups.

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