Cambridge University startup Darktrace has become the first company to benefit from Autonomy founder Mike Lynch’s $1bn tech fund Invoke Capital.
Although the exact terms of the investment were not disclosed, the cyber defence firm is expected to receive between $10m and $20m. Darktrace, which is commercialising mathematical research from Cambridge, simultaneously announced that Sir Jonathan Evans, former director-general of intelligence agency MI5, will join its board of directors.
Lynch said: “We are delighted to announce our first investment in a genuinely innovative company, in such a critical area as cyber security. Darktrace brings a radically different solution to the challenge of protecting our information in today’s environment of cyber-threat. It is an inherently mathematical approach that does not seek to block information flow, but rather understand it, in all its practical complexity and subtlety.”
Darktrace, whose cyber security technology is already in use by FTSE 100 companies, utilises a modified branch of a Bayes filter which is used for estimating the likelihood of an unknown random continuous variable in probability. In this case, Darktrace software assumes that a company’s computer security is already compromised, and that some of the risk comes from employees.
Steve Huxter, managing director of Darktrace, explained: “The threat to companies and institutions from cyber espionage, hacking and spying is real and growing, and needs a sophisticated approach. Our combination of fundamental behavioural technology and expertise in cyber operations at the highest level, means that we offer a solution to the number one agenda item of boardrooms everywhere. This is something that Mike Lynch and the team at Invoke Capital have recognised and we are really pleased to have secured their support.”
Invoke’s $1bn announcement was made back in February. Its stated aim is to build multibillion-dollar companies in Europe which can act independently and not be swallowed up by rival US-firms. Invoke is one of the largest tech investors in Europe, and is the only investment team on the continent with its own in-house R&D division.
* Mike Lynch is a keynote speaker at GUV’s upcoming summit in London. For more details, please click here.
