Nozomi Networks raises $100m to protect pipelines and other critical infrastructure

Industrial cybersecurity startup Nozomi Networks has raised $100m in pre-initial public listing (IPO) funding. It will use the capital injection to scale product development and grow its sales and marketing operations.

The operational technology (OT) and internet of things (IoT) company provides cybersecurity solutions to detect threats in specialist industrial hardware such as oil pipelines and connected factory machines.

It caters to a range of industry verticals including manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, among others.

Private equity group Triangle Peak Partners led the Series D round, which also included backing from partners Forward Investments, Honeywell Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Keysight Technologies, Porsche Ventures and Telefónica Ventures. All of the company’s previous backers also contributed to the funding round.

“With the OT and IoT security market on the verge of explosive growth, Nozomi Networks has not only risen to the top but is strongly positioned to continue to outpace the market,” said Dain F DeGroff, co-founding partner and president at Triangle Peak Partners.

Nozomi’s latest funding round comes off the back of a year in which it claims to have doubled its customer base and increased annual recurring revenue by 110%. It says its solutions monitor more than 47 million OT, IoT and IT devices globally.

Industrial hardware, which includes industrial and distributed control systems, often has a much longer lifespan than traditional IT products and once deployed it can be difficult to implement security patches. Legacy and bespoke systems also make monitoring more difficult than traditional IT devices such as personal desktops.

The San Francisco-based company’s software monitors industrial machines to spot anomalies that might indicate a security flaw or attempted attack.

The importance of industrial machines to the economy has made them a lucrative target for ransomware gangs, with the Colonial Pipeline and JBS attackers stealing $4.4m and $11m in ransom payments, respectively.

Research published by Nozomi last month showed vulnerabilities in the critical manufacturing sector rose by 148% in the first half of 2021.

Founded in 2013, it competes with the likes of Claroty and Dragos in the industrial cybersecurity market.

According to GlobalData’s deals database, Nozomi Networks has previously raised $42.5m in funding, the most recent being a $30m Series C round in September 2018.
Verdict has asked Nozomi Networks for its valuation following the funding round and the timeframe for its IPO plans.