LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, an Arlington, VA-based provider of threat intelligence solutions, has acquired open-source threat intelligence firm Cyveillance for $35 million in cash.
In addition to acquiring Cyveillance, LookingGlass said it has raised a $50 million Series C funding round led by NewSpring Capital, part of which was used to fund the acquisition.
The move supports LookingGlass’ mission to be a powerhouse in the cyber threat intelligence solutions market and comes months after making other acquisitions, including botnet monitoring firm Kleissner and Associates in July 2015, and Deep Packet Processing (DPP) platform provider CloudShield in February 2015.
The acquisition, which closed on Dec. 11, will help LookingGlass expand its offerings in the space and help customers better understand the risks and threats they face and take appropriate defensive actions to mitigate those threats.
As Cyveillance explains on its website, it provides a cloud-based platform that combines web search, social media monitoring, underground channel information, and global intelligence with a suite of tools and databases covering things from cyberattacks and threat actors to domain names and IP data.
In the full year ending March 31, 2015 Cyveillance had revenue of $18 million, according to data provided by QinetiQ.
“The addition of Cyveillance allows LookingGlass to expand our coverage across the risk landscape helping security teams stay ahead of threats in an efficient and effective way,” said Chris Coleman, CEO of LookingGlass.
Coleman, who joined LookingGlass as CEO in July 2013 and previously served as Director of Cyber Security at Cisco, told SecurityWeek that Cyveillance has 230 customers and approximately 130 employees, which will nearly double the headcount at LookingGlass to a total of roughly 250 people.
Founded in 1997, Cyveillance was acquired by British defense contractor QinetiQ in 2009 and has been operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the firm since. QinetiQ paid $40 million in cash to acquire Cyveillance, and agreed to pay up $40 million more in a payout if certain revenue goals were met. However, because the company did not attain the agreed goals, no additional payout was made to former Cyveillance shareholders. Cyveillance shareholders later filed suit against QinetiQ, saying the acquirer failed to take actions that would have let Cyveillance’s revenues attain the required earn-out goal. The Delaware Chancery Court rejected those claims, noting that the seller “had not proven that any business decision of the buyer was motivated by a desire to avoid an earn-out payment.”
In addition to supporting the acquisition of Cyveillance, LookingGlass said that the new funding will be used to support growth efforts including product development, product integration, international expansion, sales, marketing and customer support.
LookingGlass previously raised $20 million in a Series B funding round in March 2015. According to SecurityWeek’s calculations, the total raised by the company now exceeds $81 million.
