Malwarebytes Revenue, Valuation, Funding & Investors

Malwarebytes is valued at $625M as of January 2016, a 6.3x multiple on its last reported $100M revenue.

Last Malwarebytes valuation

$625M

Series B · Jan 2016

Last Malwarebytes funding round

$100M

Undisclosed stage · Sep 2022

Malwarebytes revenue

$100M

Series B · Jan 2016

Key investors in Malwarebytes

  • Fidelity
  • Highland Capital Partners
  • Highland Europe
  • Vector Capital

Malwarebytes Overview

About Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes is a cybersecurity company, founded in 2008, that builds software to protect consumers and businesses from malware, viruses, and other threats that evade traditional antivirus tools. Its product line has grown from a free consumer anti-malware scanner into a broader portfolio covering endpoint protection, DNS protection, cloud storage scanning, and vulnerability and patch management, sold directly and through managed service providers. The San Francisco-based company counts millions of consumer subscribers alongside tens of thousands of business customers.


Founded

2008

HQ

United StatesSan Jose, CA

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B & B2C

Revenue model

Subscription

Revenue

$100M (Jan 2016)

Valuation

$625M (Jan 2016)

Malwarebytes Valuation

Malwarebytes is currently valued at $625M, based on its Series B in January 2016.

The $50M round was led by Fidelity.

Malwarebytes valuation by funding round

Malwarebytes valuation by funding round
DateStageValuationRevenue Multiple
Jan 2016Series B$625M6.3x

Malwarebytes Revenue

Malwarebytes' latest recorded revenue is $100M, as of its Series B in January 2016. At a $625M valuation, that implies a 6.3x revenue multiple.

Malwarebytes revenue by funding round

Malwarebytes revenue and valuation multiple by funding round
DateRevenue *ValuationRevenue MultipleStage
Jan 2016$100M$625M6.3xSeries B

* Revenue (or ARR) figures are the values recorded alongside each funding round. Typically run-rate revenue at the time of the deal, or a reported LTM (last 12 months) revenue.

Malwarebytes Funding History

Malwarebytes has raised a total of $180M across 3 funding rounds.

Malwarebytes' first fundraising round was a $30M Series A in July 2014. The most recent completed round was a $100M undisclosed-stage round in September 2022.

Malwarebytes funding rounds

Malwarebytes funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Sep 2022Undisclosed stageVector Capital (lead)$100M-Malwarebytes, a global leader in real-time cyberprotection, received a $100 million minority investment from Vector Capital on September 21, 2022. The San Francisco-based private equity firm, which typically invests in technology companies with at least $100 million in annual revenue, appointed Managing Directors Sandy Gill and Dave Fishman to Malwarebytes' board of directors as part of the transaction. The investment was expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022 and followed prior funding rounds led by Highland Capital Partners and Fidelity Management and Research Company, bringing Malwarebytes' total raised to $180 million since its founding in 2008. Malwarebytes planned to use the $100 million investment to accelerate product innovation across its consumer and corporate business lines, including new prevention modules for endpoint protection, DNS protection, cloud storage scanning, and vulnerability and patch management. The company aimed to leverage the capital to enhance its international channel partner program and rapidly growing Managed Service Provider (MSP) business, with ambitions to increase channel sales from 25-30 percent to 70-80 percent of overall sales within three to four years. At the time of the investment, Malwarebytes had 20,000 business customers and 3.5 million paying subscribers on the consumer side. Co-founder and CEO Marcin Kleczynski emphasized that the company remained cash flow positive despite laying off 125 employees (14 percent of staff) in August 2022 to refocus on underserved market segments. He stated that Malwarebytes had grown every year since founding and would continue hiring following Vector Capital's investment. The company's strategy centered on building a comprehensive product portfolio that provided simple and cost-effective protection for both individuals and organizations facing evolving cyber threats.
Jan 2016Series BFidelity (lead)$50M$625MMalwarebytes is a cybersecurity company offering software to protect consumers and businesses from malware, viruses, trojans, and advanced threats that evade traditional antivirus solutions. Founded in 2008 by teenage cofounder Marcin Kleczynski, it grew from bootstrapped origins to serve millions of consumers and 70,000 businesses by 2016. The company had previously raised $30 million in a Series A round in July 2014 from Highland Capital Partners to expand globally and develop anti-exploit technologies. On January 21, 2016, Malwarebytes announced a $50 million Series B funding round from Fidelity Management and Research Company, marking its second institutional round. The funding aimed to hire more engineers, boost sales, marketing, and enterprise product initiatives amid fierce talent competition in cybersecurity. At the time, Malwarebytes demonstrated strong traction with a $100 million run rate, profitability, cash flow positivity, and rapid growth. Its software ran on 250 million unique endpoints worldwide in 2015, with over 60 million quarterly active users noted earlier. The company had significant market penetration, ranking second in user installs behind Microsoft per an Opswat report. Fidelity's investment validated Malwarebytes' business model, placing it alongside high-profile portfolio companies like Uber, Airbnb, and SpaceX. Despite Fidelity's recent write-downs on other unicorns, Malwarebytes' fundamentals insulated it from issues. The firm continued growing its enterprise business, later raising additional rounds including $100 million in private equity in 2022, bringing total funding to $180 million.
Jul 2014Series AHighland Capital Partners (lead); Highland Europe$30M-Malwarebytes, founded in 2008, develops anti-malware detection and remediation software to protect consumers and businesses from advanced online threats, including zero-day exploits and mobile threats. The company launched its free consumer software, which gained the second-highest number of user installs worldwide per an Opswat report, and expanded into enterprise offerings for targeted data breach protection. By July 2014, it had over 60 million quarterly active users and partnerships with MSP platforms like Continuum, Kaseya, and Barracuda Networks. On July 10, 2014, Malwarebytes raised $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Highland Capital Partners, with no prior institutional capital as it had been bootstrapped and profitable from inception. The funds were earmarked for accelerating global expansion of its security technologies, which outperform traditional endpoint products, and to support product innovation like anti-exploit technologies. Prior to the round, Malwarebytes achieved a 100% revenue increase in 2013, reaching low-tens to mid-tens of millions of dollars, alongside tripling its staff and strong customer references. Highland was drawn to its market traction, loyal user base, and potential in endpoint security amid trends like virtualization and IoT. The investment positioned Malwarebytes for growth, leading to subsequent rounds including a $50M Series B in 2016 at $575M valuation.

Who has invested in Malwarebytes?

4 investors have backed Malwarebytes across its funding rounds, including Fidelity, Highland Capital Partners, Highland Europe and Vector Capital.

Lead investors include Vector Capital, Fidelity and Highland Capital Partners.


Malwarebytes Investors

Investors in Malwarebytes by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Highland Capital PartnersUnited StatesLexington, KY1LeadJul 2014
FidelityUnited StatesBoston, MA1LeadJan 2016

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Acquisitions by Malwarebytes

Malwarebytes has acquired 6 companies to date.

Last acquisition by Malwarebytes was on November 7th 2024. Malwarebytes acquired AzireVPN for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by Malwarebytes

AzireVPN
Cyrus Security
Binisoft
Saferbytes
Description
AzireVPN is a Sweden-based virtual private network provider emphasizing user privacy with no-log policies, WireGuard protocols, and servers in multiple countries. The service supports streaming, torrenting, and secure browsing for individual and business users worldwide.
Cyrus Security is a cybersecurity company founded by experts Oren Arar, Jonathan Livneh, and Shahak Shalev to deliver personal protection tools against cyber threats. The Tel Aviv-based firm centers its products on user accessibility.
Binisoft is a software developer based in Romania specializing in Windows security tools. It produces Windows Firewall Control for granular network rules and USB Flash Drive Control for restricting removable media access. These applications support Windows 10 and 11, serving enterprise IT admins with portable editions and automation scripts.
Saferbytes is an Italian cybersecurity firm offering Deepviz, a cloud-based malware analysis platform. Deepviz reverse-engineers threats from IOCs like IPs and hashes, mapping attack chains with behavioral analytics on over 10 billion samples. Targeted at SOC teams, it integrates via REST APIs and supports SIEM tools like Splunk. The Rimini-headquartered company protects enterprises in finance and government sectors across Europe.
HQ CountrySwedenUnited StatesRomaniaItaly
HQ City
Stockholm
New York City, NY
Cluj-Napoca
Bastia
Deal Date7 Nov 202424 Aug 202324 May 20187 Feb 2017
Valuationundisclosedundisclosedundisclosedundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Malwarebytes Competitors

Malwarebytes competitors include listed companies like GB Group, Aura.com and Sansec, and private ones like Shift5, Defense Unicorns and Onyx Security.

Public and private companies comparable to Malwarebytes
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
Shift5United StatesUnited StatesPrivate--$591M-
GB GroupUnited KingdomUnited KingdomPublicly listed$383M($45M)$489M1.6x
Defense UnicornsUnited StatesColorado Springs, COPrivate--$1B-
Onyx SecurityUnited StatesWilmington, DEPrivate--$640M-
Aura.comUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$193M($155M)$643M-
SansecChinaChinaPublicly listed$83M($2M)$602M5.4x

Malwarebytes Public Comps

Malwarebytes is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Aura.com, DBAPPSecurity, Sansec, Baudroie, Beijing VRV Software, OneSpan, Feitian Technologies, eMudhra, Global Security Experts and Hunan Kylinsec Tech.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Aura.com$193M($155M)5.7x-(7.0x)-
DBAPPSecurity$321M$15M1.8x1.8x38.5x21.1x
Sansec$83M($2M)6.1x5.4x(310.1x)(388.8x)
Baudroie$112M$24M5.2x4.3x24.7x21.0x
Beijing VRV Software$46M($44M)13.1x-(13.6x)-
OneSpan$243M$57M2.6x2.5x11.0x8.9x
Feitian Technologies$104M($4K)6.2x-(168378.6x)-
eMudhra$73M$18M7.3x6.6x30.1x27.4x

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Common questions about Malwarebytes

When was Malwarebytes founded?Malwarebytes was founded in 2008.
Where is Malwarebytes headquartered?Malwarebytes is headquartered in San Jose, CA, United States.
Is Malwarebytes publicly listed?No, Malwarebytes is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Malwarebytes' valuation?Malwarebytes was last valued at $625M in its Series B in January 2016.
How much funding has Malwarebytes raised?Malwarebytes has raised $180M across 3 funding rounds.
What was Malwarebytes' last funding round?Malwarebytes' last funding round was a $100M undisclosed-stage round in September 2022, led by Vector Capital.
Who are Malwarebytes' investors?Malwarebytes' investors include Highland Capital Partners, Fidelity, Highland Europe and Vector Capital.
What is Malwarebytes' revenue?Malwarebytes' latest recorded revenue is $100M (January 2016).
What is Malwarebytes' revenue multiple?Malwarebytes' latest valuation implies a 6.3x revenue multiple ($625M valuation on $100M of revenue).
Which companies are comparable to Malwarebytes?Companies comparable to Malwarebytes include Shift5, GB Group, Defense Unicorns, Onyx Security, Aura.com and Sansec.
How many companies has Malwarebytes acquired?Malwarebytes has acquired 6 companies, including AzireVPN, Cyrus Security, Binisoft, Saferbytes and AdwCleaner.

See companies similar to Malwarebytes

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