It appears to be the end of the road for IronNet (OTCMKTS: IRNT), the once-promising network security play founded by former NSA director General Keith Alexander.
The company signaled grave financial distress in its latest SEC Form 8-K filing, warning it has run out of money and will furlough a majority of its workforce and severely scale back operations.
It’s a stunning end for a company that launched in 2018 with $78 million in funding and ambitious plans to cash in on an expanding market for enterprise-grade network security tools.
With Alexander at the helm, IronNet raised in excess of $400 million and rolled out its IronDome collective defense system that promised automated and real-time sharing of threat data and analysis between participating energy companies.
In tandem, the company sold an IronDefense platform that provided behavioral threat detection, visibility, and risk prioritization capabilities to organizations in the financial and energy sectors.
The company would go public in a SPAC transaction but struggled to gain traction in a highly competitive market that includes major vendors like Cisco and Palo Alto Networks and a cadre of well-capitalized startups.
This week, the company said it would furlough almost all its employees and “substantially curtail business operations.”
“The board of directors of the Company is continuing to evaluate strategic alternatives, including potentially seeking bankruptcy protection,” IronNet said.
Related: Ex-NSA Director’s IronNet Raises $78 Million
Related: What’s Going on With Cybersecurity VC Investments?
Related: Dozens of Cybersecurity Companies Announced Layoffs in Past Year
Related: NSA Chief General Keith Alexander Addresses DEF CON Attendees
Ryan Naraine is Editor-at-Large at SecurityWeek and host of the popular Security Conversations podcast series. He is a security community engagement expert who has built programs at major global brands, including Intel Corp., Bishop Fox and GReAT. Ryan is a founding-director of the Security Tinkerers non-profit, an advisor to early-stage entrepreneurs, and a regular speaker at security conferences around the world.
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