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- Isovalent
Isovalent Acquisition, Valuation, Funding & Investors
Isovalent was acquired by Cisco for $650M in December 2023, a 32.5x multiple on $20M of revenue.
Isovalent revenue at acquisition
$20M
Last twelve months · Dec 2023
Isovalent revenue multiple at acquisition
32.5x
EV/Revenue · Dec 2023
Cumulative funding Isovalent raised
$69M
across 2 funding rounds
About Isovalent
Isovalent is a networking software company building open-source eBPF-based tools like Cilium for cloud-native infrastructure security, observability, and connectivity. Adopted by organizations such as Adobe, AWS, Capital One, Datadog, GitLab, and Google, the Cupertino, California- and Zurich-headquartered firm was acquired by Cisco in 2023 to advance Kubernetes networking.
Founded
2017
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Licensing, Subscription
Revenue
$20M (Dec 2023)
Valuation
$650M (acquired Dec 2023)
Isovalent Acquisition
Isovalent was acquired by Cisco for $650M on 21 December 2023.
The acquisition price implies a 32.5x revenue multiple on $20M of revenue.
Before the acquisition Isovalent had raised $69M across 2 funding rounds.
Isovalent, a privately held enterprise software company headquartered in Cupertino, California, with offices in Zurich, specializes in open source cloud native networking and security, creating and leading development of eBPF, Cilium for networking, and Tetragon for security observability. These technologies power managed Kubernetes offerings at Amazon and Google, providing kernel-level visibility, policy enforcement, and performance without hindering applications. Cisco Systems, a worldwide networking leader, announced intent to acquire Isovalent on December 21, 2023, following its early 2020 investment, to integrate these innovations into the Cisco Security Cloud, an AI-driven platform abstracting security from multicloud infrastructure for threat protection across clouds, applications, and workloads. The acquisition bolsters Cisco's multicloud networking and security amid its shift to software and annual recurring revenue models, succeeding the $28 billion Splunk deal in September 2023. Terms remained undisclosed, with closure anticipated by April 2024; the deal completed on April 12, 2024, integrating Isovalent's team into Cisco's Security Business Group. Cisco committed to sustaining eBPF, Cilium, and Tetragon open source projects via contributions, community governance, and an independent advisory board, leveraging Isovalent's leadership in Cloud Native Computing Foundation and eBPF Foundation to accelerate platform value and customer digital transformation in distributed environments of containers, virtual machines, and cloud assets. Competitive dynamics highlight cloud-native network security's rise, validated by peers like Tigera's Project Calico, addressing perimeter security limitations in dynamic multicloud setups. Isovalent Enterprise offerings continue under Cisco, enhancing go-to-market scale while preserving open source strategy, as affirmed by Isovalent co-founder Thomas Graf and Cisco executives Jeetu Patel and Tom Gillis.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price | EV/Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Dec 2023 | Strategic M&A | $650M | 32.5x |
Isovalent Funding History
Isovalent has raised a total of $69M across 2 funding rounds.
Isovalent's first fundraising round was a $29M Series A in November 2020. The most recent completed round was a $40M Series B in September 2022.
Isovalent funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2022 | Series B | Thomvest Ventures (lead); Andreessen Horowitz; M12; Grafana Labs; Mango Capital; Cisco; Mirae Asset Capital; Alphabet | $40M | Isovalent, based in Mountain View, develops network security software leveraging eBPF technology for cloud-native environments. Isovalent operates in the cybersecurity space, focusing on advanced network protection solutions. Isovalent raised a $40 million Series B funding round led by Thomvest Ventures, with participation from M12 (Microsoft's venture fund), Grafana Labs Accelerator Program, and other investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Cisco, Google, Mango Capital, and Mirae Asset Capital. The round was announced around September 8, 2022, aligning with the approximate date of July/September 2022. The funding supports Isovalent's growth in providing innovative network security for modern cloud infrastructures. |
| Nov 2020 | Series A | Andreessen Horowitz (lead); Alphabet (lead); SV Angel; Cisco Investments; Mango Capital | $29M | Isovalent, founded in 2017 by CEO Dan Wendlandt and CTO Thomas Graf, emerged from stealth in November 2020 with a $29 million Series A funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Google, with participation from Cisco Investments, Mango Capital, and SV Angel. The company develops cloud-native networking, security, and observability software based on eBPF technology and the open-source Cilium project, which Graf co-created. Cilium enables enterprises to connect, observe, and secure application data flows in Kubernetes environments at a granular level, integrating with the Linux kernel for encryption, auditing, and visibility beyond traditional IP/port-based networking. Early adopters included major enterprises such as Adobe, Capital One, Datadog, and GitLab, with Google selecting Cilium for its GKE data plane. Isovalent launched its Cilium Enterprise platform alongside the funding announcement to commercialize the open-source project, targeting cloud-native workloads. The team brought deep expertise, with Graf's 15 years in Linux kernel development and Wendlandt's experience on Open vSwitch at Nicira/VMware. The funding was intended to accelerate platform development, expand go-to-market efforts, and build the team amid growing demand for modern networking solutions that align with developer, operations, and security needs in cloud-native infrastructures. Isovalent later raised a $40 million Series B in September 2022 led by Thomvest Ventures and was acquired by Cisco. |
Who has invested in Isovalent?
10 investors have backed Isovalent across its funding rounds, including Andreessen Horowitz, Alphabet, Mango Capital, SV Angel, M12 and Cisco Investments.
Lead investors include Thomvest Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Alphabet.
Isovalent Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Lead | Nov 2020 | ||
| 2 | Participant | Nov 2020 | ||
| 2 | Lead | Nov 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Nov 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Nov 2020 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2022 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2022 | ||
| 1 | Participant | Sep 2022 | ||
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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
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Start Free TrialIsovalent Competitors
Isovalent competitors include listed companies like N-able and Asiainfo Security, and private ones like Nile, Aryaka Networks, Corelight and Fly.io.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $509M | $80M | $725M | 2.0x | ||
| Private | $8M | - | $775M | 96.9x | ||
| Private | - | - | $539M | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $1.2B | ($11M) | $805M | 1.1x | ||
| Private | - | - | $900M | - | ||
| Private | - | - | $467M | - |
Isovalent Public Comps
Isovalent is no longer listed, but its public comps include Beijing Abt Networks, N-able, Asiainfo Security, AsiaInfo, Allot, Sify Technologies, Ribbon Communications, Cerillion, Amiya and Alpha Systems.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $83M | ($21M) | 8.9x | 8.5x | (35.4x) | - | |||
| $509M | $80M | 2.1x | 2.0x | 13.0x | 6.6x | |||
| $1.2B | ($11M) | 1.2x | 1.1x | (128.3x) | 345.7x | |||
| $940M | $39M | 0.4x | 0.4x | 8.7x | 8.6x | |||
| $102M | $6M | 2.9x | 2.7x | 47.6x | 21.5x | |||
| $468M | $107M | 3.1x | 2.0x | 13.7x | 8.2x | |||
| $845M | $60M | 0.8x | 0.8x | 11.1x | 7.4x | |||
| $61M | $31M | 4.3x | 4.2x | 8.4x | 9.5x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Isovalent competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Isovalent
| When was Isovalent founded? | Isovalent was founded in 2017. |
| Where is Isovalent headquartered? | Isovalent is headquartered in San Jose, CA, United States. |
| Is Isovalent publicly listed? | No, Isovalent was acquired by Cisco in December 2023. |
| Who acquired Isovalent? | Isovalent was acquired by Cisco in December 2023. |
| How much was Isovalent acquired for? | Isovalent was acquired for $650M in December 2023, a 32.5x revenue multiple. |
| How much funding has Isovalent raised? | Isovalent has raised $69M across 2 funding rounds. |
| What was Isovalent's last funding round? | Isovalent's last funding round was a $40M Series B in September 2022, led by Thomvest Ventures. |
| Who are Isovalent's investors? | Isovalent's investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Mango Capital, Alphabet, SV Angel, Cisco Investments, M12, Grafana Labs, Cisco, Mirae Asset Capital and Thomvest Ventures. |
| Which companies are comparable to Isovalent? | Companies comparable to Isovalent include N-able, Nile, Aryaka Networks, Asiainfo Security, Corelight and Fly.io. |
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