Cybersecurity firm Tanium has raised $200 million in a funding round that values the Emeryville, California startup at $6.5bn. It will use the money to pay out employees and early investors, staving off an IPO many thought imminent.
The round, led by Wellington Management with additional funds from Baillie Gifford & Co and Adage Capital Management, adds to a $175m injection Tanium raised just five months ago. It has now raised a total of $683m from heavyweight investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Citi Ventures and Templeton Investments, not to mention Boston-based Wellington.
Orion Hindawi, Tanium CEO, had told London’s Financial Times in 2016 that his company planned to go public in 18 months. Today’s news puts that schedule on hold, as the firm chooses to consolidate its financial standing. “The initial public offering is not the strategy for us, it is not the mission,” Tanium chief financial officer Fazal Merchant told the newspaper. “It might be part of the natural evolution of the business.”
Tanium has jumped on increased demand for security among major corporations, as data breaches continue to make headlines worldwide. Its customers include Target, GoDaddy, Phillips 66 and AON, among many others.
This month Tanium was placed on Forbes‘ list of the top 100 private companies in cloud computing. The company, which has seven global offices, has a positive cash flow of around $25m, and $320m in cash, as of this January. Its ARR, at $230m, represents an 80% increase on 2017.