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October 28, 2009
Cisco Pockets UK Security Software
Two former British investment bankers are set to share about $60M (€40M) after selling ScanSafe, the internet security company they set up five ears ago, to Cisco Systems for up to $183M (€123M). The group was originally founded in 2004 in London by brothers Eldar and Roy Tuvey but quickly set up a second location in California to capitalize on opportunities in Silicon Valley. Its software, which scans employees’ web browsing for viruses and hacking attempts, raised about $43.5M in venture capital funding from groups such as Balderton Capital, Scale Venture Partners and Montagu Newhall Associates.
ScanSafe had been growing at 100 per cent a year, reporting revenue of about $23M (€15M) for 2008, delivered through the software-as-a-service model. The software industry is increasingly adopting SaaS as more corporate IT services are outsourced to specialists. Its 2,000 customers include Sprint and AT&T.
Cisco will use ScanSafe to beef up its cloud-based security services and integrate it with IronPort Systems, a privately owned developer of messaging and internet security appliances, it bought for $830M in January 2007. Today's deal announcement is part of Cisco’s plans to build a “borderless network security architecture that combines network and cloud-based services for advanced security enforcement,” the company said.
Earlier this year, Cisco CEO John Chambers had said that Cisco planned to be “aggressive” during downturn with focus on acquiring small private companies with market leadership - such as ScanSafe. Founded in 2004, ScanSafe was the first company in the world to offer Web security via a SaaS model (software-as-a-service). Headquartered in London and San Francisco, the company has received numerous awards, including SC Magazine’s “Best Content Security” solution for the last three years.
By Raghuraman R
Posted on October 28, 2009 12:34 PM | Posted to Buyout | Software | entrepreneurship | Permalink
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