The Capital Quest | Israel’s SentinelOne rolls out $100-mn fund to back startups, outlines new bets

Israeli-origin cybersecurity firm SentinelOne is launching a $100 million venture capital fund that will invest in security and data startups.

S Ventures, as the new investment vehicle is known, will invest across all stages of the startup lifecycle, SentinelOne said in a statement.

It will provide access to company experts and leaders, enhanced exposure across the SentinelOne ecosystem, and product integration and go-to-market enablement, the company said.

The new fund has already backed a handful of Israeli startups. These include Torq, which accelerates complex threat response workflows through a no-code security automation platform; and Laminar, which delivers a cloud data security platform that discovers, protects, secures, and monitors sensitive data in the cloud.

The fund has also invested in Armorblox, an API-based email security platform; and Noetic Cyber, a continuous cyber asset management and controls platform.

SentinelOne was co-founded a decade ago by Tomer Weingarten. The company listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 and currently has a market capitalization of $7.5 billion. This valuation is down nearly two-thirds from where the company was valued in November 2021 when it began trading on the exchange.

SentinelOne said that, in the second quarter of 2021, it more than doubled its revenue to $102 million while its annualised recurring revenue was up 122% to more than $436 million.

The company continues to bleed operationally with an operating loss of $108 million, but its margins have improved from 59% last year to 65%.

In March, it had acquired US-based Ativo for $600 million in a part-cash, part-stock deal. The acquisition added 300 people to SentinelOne’s payrolls, doubling its workforce.

Related