2018 has the makings for a strong year for venture capital
With a robust M&A market, liquidity in the public capital markets, corporate cash, and continuing earnings growth in many sectors, the next two years should turn in strong performance for Venture Capital. As 2017 closes, capital invested is over $44 Billion, up almost 18% from the $37 Billion invested in 2016. For the Mid-Atlantic Region, even though the area saw 1,266 deals funded year to date in 2017 down from the 1,367 deals funded in 2016, total capital invested to date in 2017 reached $9 billion which exceeds the $8.9 billion invested in 2016.
For our region, one of the highlights in 2017 was the opening of AllegisCyber, an affiliate of Allegis Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that is collocated with DataTribe in Maple Lawn, Maryland. DataTribe applies an investment element to its model, by providing seed financing of up to $1.5 million to its cohort companies. Both firms are expanding their investments into Maryland cyber companies in the coming year.
Two of the most active regional (D.C., Maryland, & Virginia) investors in Cyber overall in 2017 were NEA with 9 cyber investments including local company Zerofox and Blu Ventures who invested in local deals including ID.me, Trackoff, Huntress Labs, NS8, Bandura Systems, DarkCubed, Fischer Block, GroupSense, PFP Cybersecurity, PacketSled, and Cybrary. Gula Tech Adventures also made a number of investments in 2017 working with the next generation of cyber security start-ups assisting with their product roadmaps, participating in their capital raises and helping them build their companies.
In addition to the acquisition of Invincea by Sophos, RedOwl Analytics was acquired by ForcePoint, a unit of Raytheon company, these liquidity events will spur reinvestment into local start-ups that is important to the fabric of our ecosystem.
Some of the regional cyber highlights in 2017 included:
- Invincea
Developer of an endpoint security software intended to kill enterprise IT threats without impacting business performance, was acquired by Sophos. Acquired on March 22nd for $120mm.
- RedOwl
Provider of security analytics platform designed to reduce corporate risk and provide organization assessment in real time, was acquired by Forcepoint who is a subsidiary of Raytheon. Acquired on August 28th for an undisclosed amount.
- Threatquotient
Developer of an open and extensible threat intelligence platform designed to empower security teams to respond to cyber threats raised $30 million in Series C round led by Adams Street Partners with participation from Cisco and NTT DOCOMO Ventures.
- ZeroFox
A social media and digital risk monitoring company raised $40 million in Series C in a round led by Redline Capital Management and Silver Lake Waterman.
- LookingGlass Cyber
A threat intelligence cybersecurity platform, raised $26.3 million in debt and venture capital. New investors include Eastwood Capital and Triangle Peak Partners.
- Dragos
Industrial cybersecurity ecosystem that focuses on asset inventory and visibility, threat detection, and workflow optimization, raised $10 million in Series A in a round led by Energy Impact Partners and Allegis Capital with participation from DataTribe.
- Enveil
Data security company protecting Data in Use raised $4 million in a round led by Thomson Reuters, In-Q-Tel, and Bloomberg Beta
About Evergreen Advisors
Evergreen Advisors is a boutique middle market investment bank and corporate advisory firm focused on servicing organizations throughout their financial lifecycles to drive successful outcomes. Serving the Mid-Atlantic region including Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania, Evergreen Advisors, LLC was formed in 2001 to provide innovative and strategic solutions to meet our clients’ evolving business needs.
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