Eyeing IPO, SentinelOne raises $120 million in Series D funding

SentinelOne announced Wednesday it has raised $120 million in a Series D funding round led by Insight Partners.

Samsung Venture Investment Corporation and NextEquity also participated in the round, along with Third Point Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, and Data Collective.

The total funding to date for SentinelOne, an endpoint protection company founded in 2013, is now more than $230 million. This news follows last week’s announcement that Insight Partners had acquired threat intelligence firm Recorded Future for $780 million, the highest price ever announced for a company doing threat intelligence work for clients. Insight Partners also had invested in Cylance before it was acquired by Blackberry for $1.4 billion.

SentinelOne aims to help companies detect and respond to attacks, and at RSA this year it unveiled an internet of things (IoT) security product, Ranger, which will be shipping later this year to address the growing threats in the IoT space.

SentinelOne’s Chief Operating Officer, Nicholas Warner, tells CyberScoop that Insight Partners, the New York venture capital firm leading the funding round, first approached SentinelOne about the deal.

“Insight approached us,” Warner said. “Part of what’s exciting about Insight leading our round is that they, besides being a tier 1 VC, they have deep expertise in cybersecurity.”

Insight Partners’ Managing Director Teddie Wardi said part of Insight Partners’ interest in the funding round was the ever-changing threat landscape and the “massive market opportunity” in endpoint security.

SentinelOne’s autonomous platform will use the injection of funds to work on its research and development around its new IoT product and also will aim to double its sales and go-to market teams by the end of the year, particularly in the company’s international groups, Warner says. The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm will be working on its go-to market strategy to work on carving out legacy competition in the space.

When it comes to competition, though, SentinelOne has its sights set higher than just putting its elbows out — Warner says SentinelOne is hopeful to launch the company forward into a cash-flow positive place, and possibly into a place where it can make an initial public offering.

“IPO is definitely in the cards over the next few years,” Warner told CyberScoop. “Really what we want more than anything else — and I think we’re on the verge of achieving — is optionality, where we feel like we’re on a solid path to cash-flow positive.”

Crowdstrike, which SentinelOne sees as a competitor, filed for an IPO just two weeks ago. CrowdStrike reported a $140.1 million net loss on $249.8 million in revenue for the fiscal year that ended this January.

SentinelOne would not disclose its revenue figures. Warner noted that it is close to achieving cash-flow positive, which he says makes it more attractive for a possible IPO.

“We’ll be cash-flow positive in a matter of quarters, not years,” Warner said.