Following Axonius Unicorn Valuation, YL Ventures Sells Its Stake to IPO-Focused Investors for $270 Million
NEW YORK — March 9, 2021 — Axonius, the cybersecurity asset management leader, announced today that its seed investor, YL Ventures, has sold its stake in the company to late-stage, IPO-focused investors ICONIQ Growth, Alkeon Capital, DTCP, and Harmony Partners for $270 million. This news comes after Axonius recently announced a $100 million Series D funding round at a $1.2 billion valuation led by Stripes, a leading New York-based growth equity firm, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed, OpenView, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Vertex.
“We are incredibly proud to have been the earliest supporters of Axonius from an idea to its recent status as a cybersecurity unicorn,” said Yoav Leitersdorf, founder and managing partner at YL Ventures. “We fund and support brilliant Israeli cybersecurity entrepreneurs from seed to lead, and Axonius has certainly become the leader in the cybersecurity asset management category it created. This transaction is an incredible outcome for us and our investors. It represents the first return on our third $75M fund, established in 2017, and the largest return in the firm’s history. It allows us to remain focused on funding early-stage Israeli cybersecurity startups and continue supporting them all through the important milestones of their initial stages. We are excited to see prominent late-stage investors from Alkeon, ICONIQ, DTCP, and Harmony Partners take over from where we started, and are positive that they will help Axonius reach new heights!”
“The transition from early-stage to late-stage investors just makes sense as we drive toward IPO, and it allows each investor to focus on what they do best,” said Dean Sysman, co-founder and CEO of Axonius. “We appreciate the guidance and support the YL Ventures team has provided during the early stages of our company and we congratulate them on this successful journey.”
"Axonius has rapidly scaled to address a real problem: how enterprises can quickly and confidently understand all of the assets in their environments to address security concerns," said Matt Jacobson, general partner, ICONIQ Growth. "We have been very impressed with how large, sophisticated customers have spoken about the simplicity and comprehensiveness of the Axonius platform and its emerging market leadership. The entire ICONIQ team and ecosystem are excited to work hands-on with Axonius to support their continued success."
"The cybersecurity challenges related to asset management and visibility have quickly become a top priority for enterprise security teams and CISOs," said Abhi Arun, managing partner at Alkeon. "Axonius is one of the fastest-growing cybersecurity companies in the market, and we're excited to partner with them for years to come, as they pioneer a data driven approach to cybersecurity."
Read the company’s blog about this news.
About Axonius
Axonius is the cybersecurity asset management platform that gives organizations a comprehensive asset inventory, uncovers security solution coverage gaps, and automatically validates and enforces security policies. By seamlessly integrating with over 300 security and management solutions, Axonius is deployed in minutes, improving cyber hygiene immediately. Covering millions of devices at customers like The New York Times, Schneider Electric, AB InBev, Landmark Health, AppsFlyer, and many more, Axonius was named the Most Innovative Startup of 2019 at the prestigious RSAC Innovation Sandbox, was named to the CNBC 2019 Upstart 100 list, and was one of the 20 Rising Stars on the Forbes 2019 Cloud 100 list. For more information, visit axonius.com.
About YL Ventures
YL Ventures funds and supports brilliant Israeli tech entrepreneurs from seed to lead. Based in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv, YL Ventures manages over $300 million and specializes in cybersecurity. YL Ventures accelerates the evolution of portfolio companies via strategic advice and U.S.-based operational execution, leveraging a powerful network of Chief Information Security Officers and global industry leaders. The firm's track record includes successful, high-profile portfolio company acquisitions by major corporations including Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, CA and Proofpoint. For more information, visit ylventures.com.
About ICONIQ Growth
ICONIQ Growth partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders who drive global impact and change. We are inspired by visionaries defining the future of their industries by building company cultures that endure. Our unique investment platform harnesses the power of ICONIQ Capital’s vibrant ecosystem of founders, pioneers, and business leaders with the goal of delivering tangible value and amplifying our portfolio companies’ success from early growth stage to IPO and beyond. ICONIQ Growth’s portfolio of innovators includes Adyen, AirBnB, Alibaba, Alteryx, Automattic, BambooHR, Braze, Chime, Collibra, Coupa, Datadog, Docusign, Gitlab, Marqeta, Miro, Procore, Red Ventures, Relativity, ServiceTitan, Snowflake, Sprinklr, Truckstop, Uber, Wolt, and Zoom, among others. For more information and a complete list of portfolio companies, please visit ICONIQGrowth.com.
About Alkeon Capital Management
Alkeon Capital Management, LLC is a privately owned registered investment adviser. The firm invests in the global equity markets and employs long/short equity strategies to make its investments. Alkeon Capital Management was founded in 2002 and has offices in New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.
About DTCP
DTCP is an investment management firm focused on growth equity and digital infrastructure. Founded in 2015, the firm has raised more than $1 billion in funds from corporate and institutional investors and invested in over 60 companies.
DTCP Growth invests in leading enterprise application and infrastructure software companies. DTCP Infra invests in mobile access, fiber, and data center infrastructure. DTCP has a dedicated advisory team supporting portfolio companies and corporate sponsors in creating measurable synergies.
The driving force behind the firm’s strategies is the belief that the convergence of networks, devices and the internet is creating more wealth, disrupting more businesses, and unleashing more innovation than any force in the history of technology.
DTCP is headquartered in Hamburg with offices in Menlo Park, Tel Aviv, and Seoul. To learn more about DTCP, please visit dtcp.capital.
About Harmony Partners
Harmony Partners is a boutique venture capital firm that makes expansion stage investments in high growth software, internet and tech-enabled companies. By eliminating the typical deal constraints of traditional growth equity firms around check size and ownership percentages, Harmony fills a gap in the market, helping entrepreneurs craft optimal financings, minimize dilution, and save time & effort, while accommodating outsized insider appetite and making room for strategics. Based in New York City, Harmony was founded in 2010 by Mark Lotke who has invested close to $1 billion in over 100 technology companies over the past 25 years, including Anaplan, AppDynamics, Alation, Aveksa, E*Trade, InfluxData, Iterable, Natera, Postmates, Priceline, Scopus, Spotify, SS&C, Swiggy, UiPath, and Zerto. To learn more, please visit harmonyvp.com.