The startup Abnormal Security, which uses artificial intelligence to prevent email attacks, is set to be valued at $5 billion in an upcoming funding round, according to two sources.
The Californian company previously reported crossing the $100 million mark in annual recurring revenue in 2023, five years after it was initially founded.
Business Insider says two people who are familiar with the deal have quoted the new valuation ahead of a new round. Although, it’s not yet known how much funding they will be raising and the terms of the deal could still change.
A huge $210 million was previously raised in 2022 in Series C venture funding in a deal that was led by Insight Partners alongside support from Greylock Partners, Menlo Ventures, and The Syndicate Group. A total of $374 million has been raised in venture funding.
At the time of the last round, the company was valued at $4 billion. The AI startup hasn’t commented on the valuation.
What is AI startup Abnormal Security?
Headquartered in San Francisco, the startup focuses on cloud-native email security and was founded by Evan Reiser and Sanjay Jeyakumar.
On LinkedIn, their overview reads: “Abnormal provides total protection against the widest range of email attacks including phishing, malware, ransomware, social engineering, executive impersonation, supply chain compromise, internal account compromise, spam, and graymail.”
Now more than ever, its services are gaining attention as hackers are using increasingly sophisticated attacks.
It was just a few months ago when Microsoft suffered a password spray attack which allowed the hackers to “access a very small percentage” of the company’s corporate accounts. This included members of its senior leadership team and employees in cybersecurity, legal, and other functions.
Other hacks have taken place over the last few years, with key emergency services being disrupted at times of need.
Aside from the need to bolster security, the AI industry has seen a huge rise in interest too as many startups are starting to receive significant investment.
For example, Elon Musk’s xAI raised $6 billion in May after being valued at $24 billion and the French startup Mistral AI secured a deal at a $6 billion valuation in June.
Featured Image: Via Abnormal Security LinkedIn
The post “AI startup Abnormal Security ‘valued at $5bn'” by Sophie Atkinson was published on 07/03/2024 by readwrite.com