British-American cybersecurity AI company Darktrace has no time for dark thoughts as it focuses on new deals and a rise in revenue.
Darktrace, which is headquartered in Cambridge (UK) and San Francisco, has revealed some positive news this week amidst some issues of late.
The firm announced that Power International Holding, a Qatari business conglomerate assisting with providing infrastructure for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, has selected Darktrace to protect its digital environments against cyber threats.
Along with that, it revealed deals with one of “the top ten telecommunications companies in the Americas” and “one of the world’s largest investment management firms, based in the US”.
In addition, in its FY2021 results, the cybersecurity firm says its YoY revenue grew 41% alongside a revenue CAGR of 52% from 2018 to 2021. This financial profile was “bolstered” by $343 million (£257 million) of ARR and a revenue number for FY2021 of $281 million (£210.5 million).
The firm calls 2021 “a pivotal point in Darktrace’s journey so far”. It now has over 1,600 employees and over 5,900 customers, 86% of whom have two or more Darktrace products.
However, the cybersecurity company has had a very interesting year.
Shares surged after its IPO in April, giving it an opening valuation of £1.7 billion. But recently its stock has fallen 47% since broker Peel Hunt in late October raised doubts about the effectiveness of its products and recommended selling the shares.
At the time of writing, Darktrace’s share price on the FTSE stands at 469.41 – compared to 802.50 at the end of last month.
There is also the matter of Mike Lynch who is fighting extradition to the US. He is the co-founder of Autonomy Corporation, the founder of Invoke Capital, and co-founder of Darktrace.
US authorities are trying to force Darktrace to hand over emails and documents following the ongoing fraud case against Lynch. He has been accused of fraudulently inflating the value of Autonomy prior to its £7.4 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011. It’s worth noting that this acquisition value was a premium of around 79% over market price.
It’s a very long story, but to keep it brief, US prosecutors have also applied for subpoenas against Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson and six other employees of Autonomy.
Lynch denies all claims.
