What does Darktrace do?

British cybersecurity company using self-learning AI to detect and autonomously respond to threats across networks, email, cloud and OT.

Who are Darktrace's investors?

Darktrace's investors include 408 Ventures, Alexander Square Partners, Amakor, Balderton Capital, Bright Pixel Capital, Brighton Park Capital, Elewit, Energize Capital and 10 more.

Where is Darktrace headquartered?

Darktrace is headquartered in Cambridge, GB.

Darktrace

Unicorn exit · $1.6BAcquired

Cambridge, GB · Founded 2013 · 2,609 employees on LinkedIn · 20 known investors

Find your way into Darktrace

Darktrace / Forensic Acquisition & Investigation is a cloud-native forensics product that automates disk-level evidence capture, collection, and preservation across multi-cloud, on-premises, and SaaS environments. It builds visual attack timelines with root-cause context to help security teams triage alerts and speed incident response.

Also known as Darktrace · Darktrace Holdings Ltd · Darktrace Ltd · Darktrace plc

AI & Machine Learning Cloud Computing Cybersecurity Enterprise Software SaaS

Founders & leadership

Jill PopelkainFounder at DARK TRACE

Investors · 20

408 VenturesPalo Alto

Alexander Square PartnersLondon · $1.3M – $6.5M

Amakor$25M – $200M

Balderton CapitalLondon · $5M – $50M

Bright Pixel CapitalLisbon

Brighton Park CapitalNew York

ElewitTres Cantos

Energize CapitalChicago · $10M – $20M

Hoxton VenturesLondon · $500K – $5M

Insight PartnersNew York · $120M – $350M

Invoke CapitalLondonvia Mike Lynch · inferred

Isomer CapitalLondon

Manta Ray VenturesLondon

Silver Lake PartnersMenlo Park

Ten ElevenBurlingame · $3M – $15M

Village GlobalCovina · $100K – $500K

Walden CatalystSan Francisco · $550K

Talis CapitalreportedLondon · $1M – $10M

Also in the syndicate · 2

1011 VenturesKKR

Valuation · disclosed

Disclosed events

$1.6Bvaluation at Series ESep 2018

filing ↗

Source: SEC prospectus filings, and round valuations the company or its investors disclosed — follow each entry's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Darktrace Holdings Ltd (formerly Darktrace Ltd, 2013–2021) is a British cybersecurity company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with additional offices in London, San Francisco and Singapore, an AI Research Centre in Cambridge and a second R&D centre in The Hague, Netherlands. Its core technology applies unsupervised machine learning to build an evolving "pattern of life" for every network, device and user in an organisation, then flags deviations from that learned baseline as potential threats in real time. An autonomous response component, Antigena, acts against in-progress attacks, and network activity is presented through a user interface called the Threat Visualiser. The company has claimed capability against zero-day attacks, citing the log4j vulnerability exploits.

The current product line is marketed as the Darktrace Behavioral Defense Platform, built on an "Adaptive AI" approach that learns from an individual customer's data rather than being trained on pooled data from many organisations, and spanning unified visibility, continuous behavioral monitoring and autonomous response. Named modules include Darktrace / EMAIL, Darktrace / OT and Darktrace / SECURE AI, the latter aimed at securing enterprise deployment of AI, alongside a Cyber AI Analyst investigation capability. Internal records also describe Darktrace / Forensic Acquisition & Investigation, a cloud-native forensics product that automates disk-level evidence capture, collection and preservation across multi-cloud, on-premises and SaaS environments and builds visual attack timelines with root-cause context.

Darktrace listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 2021 and was taken private by US private equity firm Thoma Bravo in a $5.3 billion transaction that closed on 1 October 2024. Reported financials for fiscal 2023 include revenue of $545.4 million, operating income of $36.5 million, net income of $59.0 million, total assets of $751.9 million and total equity of $263.5 million, with 2,269 employees.

Founding story

Darktrace was founded in 2013 in Cambridge by mathematicians and cyber defence experts at Invoke Capital, the firm owned by Mike Lynch. Lynch was a major early backer through Invoke Capital, which he set up with a reported £500 million received from Hewlett Packard's acquisition of Autonomy, and he installed several former Autonomy figures in senior roles. Co-founder Poppy Gustafsson had been a corporate controller at Autonomy; chief technology officer Jack Stockdale and chief strategy and artificial intelligence officer Nicole Eagan were also recruited from Autonomy.

Business model

Darktrace sells AI-based cybersecurity software to enterprise and public sector organisations as a platform spanning network detection and response, email security, cloud, operational technology and AI security, with autonomous response and analyst-augmentation capabilities. Since October 2024 it has operated as a private company owned by Thoma Bravo.

Traction

Darktrace's website cites 10,000 customers; it claimed more than 7,400 customers in 110 countries in 2022, and an investor page cited over 5,500 customers. Reported revenue was $419.3 million for fiscal 2022 (revised to $415.5 million) and $545.4 million for fiscal 2023, with 2,269 employees in 2023. Customer-reported outcomes include 3,000 analyst investigation hours saved over ten months at Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, 91% of investigations resolved autonomously at Aer Soléir, a 24.1-second average response time at Artesia General Hospital and 2,000 hours saved per month at the State of Oklahoma.

Latest developments

In January 2025 Darktrace announced the acquisition of Cado Security, a firm specialising in investigations of cyberattacks. Jill Popelka was replaced as CEO in January 2026 after 16 months, and Ed Jennings became chief executive in March 2026, with Gordon Hurst as chairman. In 2026 the company unveiled the Darktrace Behavioral Defense Platform and launched Darktrace / SECURE AI, announced in a September 22 broadcast, published its State of AI Cybersecurity 2026 survey of 1,500 cybersecurity professionals, and ran the Darktrace LIVE global roadshow.

▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies

Market position

Positioned as a leader in AI-based cybersecurity: named a Leader in the 2025 and 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Detection & Response, a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms, the only Visionary in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CPS Protection Platforms, a 2026 Gartner Customers' Choice for Email Security, and the only 2025 Gartner Peer Insights Customers' Choice for NDR. It was named one of TIME magazine's 'Most Influential Companies' for 2021. One analyst quoted in 2022 questioned whether a clear market exists for AI-enhanced threat hunting beyond Darktrace's own revenue base.

Rather than training models on large pooled data lakes of many organisations' data to recognise known attack patterns, Darktrace's Adaptive AI learns each customer's own environment to establish normal behaviour per asset and detect subtle deviations, which the company positions as effective against novel and AI-driven attacks. Autonomous response (Antigena) and automated investigation (Cyber AI Analyst) reduce manual analyst workload.

Technology

Unsupervised machine learning builds an intrinsic "pattern of life" model for each network, device and user, from which anomalous, high-risk activity is identified in real time without relying on training against pooled multi-organisation attack data. The company describes this as Adaptive AI. The Antigena component provides autonomous response to in-progress attacks, the Threat Visualiser interface displays network activity, and Cyber AI Analyst automates investigations. Forensics capabilities automate disk-level evidence capture and preservation across multi-cloud, on-premises and SaaS environments and build visual attack timelines with root-cause context.

Go-to-market

Direct enterprise sales supported by product demos, published customer stories and analyst recognition, a global roadshow event series (Darktrace LIVE), threat research and policy publications, and reseller channels. The company has also used sports sponsorship, signing a partnership with McLaren Racing in 2020 that was extended in 2021 to McLaren's IndyCar team.

Enterprises and public sector bodies across sectors, including beverage distribution (Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast), energy (Aer Soléir), healthcare (Artesia General Hospital), destination marketing (Visit Dallas), consumer/automotive electronics (HARMAN International) and government (State of Oklahoma), plus construction and property, automotive finance and legal customers.

Geography

Headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with offices in London, San Francisco and Singapore, an AI Research Centre in Cambridge and a second R&D centre in The Hague, Netherlands. In 2022 the company said it served customers in 110 countries.

History

Founded in 2013, Darktrace listed on the London Stock Exchange in April 2021 at a market value of about £2.5 billion, peaking at roughly £7 billion and a £10 share price before fluctuating; on 6 March 2022 it opened at £6.46 for a market cap of £3.43 billion. In February/March 2022 it acquired Dutch attack surface management company Cybersprint for €47.5 million. Thoma Bravo disclosed preliminary and conditional proposals in August 2022 but announced in September 2022 that it would not make an offer, sending shares down about 35%. In January 2023 short seller Quintessential Capital Management published a report alleging accounting irregularities, largely predating the 2021 listing; Darktrace disputed the claims and an EY review concluded in July 2023 found a small number of errors and inconsistencies but nothing material. Thoma Bravo returned with a $5.3 billion offer in April 2024, approved by the UK Court in September 2024 and completed on 1 October 2024. CEO and co-founder Poppy Gustafsson resigned in September 2024 and was succeeded by COO Jill Popelka; Popelka was replaced in January 2026 after 16 months, and Ed Jennings became chief executive in March 2026. Early backer Mike Lynch, who held about a 3% stake, died in August 2024 when the yacht Bayesian sank; former COO Stephen Chamberlain died the same day after being struck by a car.

Risks & controversies

On 30–31 January 2023 New York short seller Quintessential Capital Management disclosed a short position and published a report alleging potential accounting errors and irregularities in reseller and customer contracts, mostly predating the 2021 IPO, and pointed to Darktrace's ties to HP Autonomy; shares fell 12% and then a further 8% to 200p. Darktrace disputed the claims, and an EY review concluded on 18 July 2023 found a small number of errors and inconsistencies but nothing material to the financial statements. The company restated fiscal 2022 revenue from $419.3 million to $415.5 million after attributing $3.8 million to fiscal 2021. Thoma Bravo's initial 2022 takeover approach collapsed, cutting the share price about 35%. Darktrace was also associated with controversy surrounding major shareholder Mike Lynch, who was found culpable by a British court of artificially inflating Autonomy's value before its sale to HP and who died in the August 2024 sinking of the yacht Bayesian; former COO Stephen Chamberlain, his co-accused, died the same day. The 2024 take-private was seen as a blow to the London Stock Exchange.

Compiled by commissioned research from 11 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported

Acquisition price per shareOct 2024$7.75

Countries servedSep 2022110

CustomersJan 202610,000 customers

CustomersOct 202410,000 customers

Darktrace / EMAIL customersJan 20245,000 customers

EmployeesJan 20232,269 employees

EmployeesOct 20242,400 employees

Gartner Peer Insights ratingDec 20244.8 out of 5 (249 reviews)

Market capitalisationMar 2022£3.43 billion at a share price of £6.46

Market capitalisationMar 2022£3.43 billion, share price £6.46

Market capitalisation at IPOApr 2021circa £2.5 billion market value on London Stock Exchange listing

Market capitalisation at IPOApr 2021circa £2.5 billion

Net incomeJan 2023$59M

Networks protectedSep 20187,000 networks

Operating incomeJan 2023$36.5M

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Founder mafia

2 people who came through DARK TRACE went on to found or lead other companies.

Hussein KanjiBoard ObserverFounded Hoxton Ventures Hanah-Marie DarleyCyber Security AnalystFounded Geordie AI

Competitors · 10

by search overlap

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Check Point Software2714 shared keywordsCheck Point Software Technologies is a cybersecurity company providing security products and solutions. This page is its investor relations section, containing annual reports, SEC filings, financial results, and corporate governance information.

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Cloudflare Turnstile2042 shared keywordsCloudflare provides a global cloud network platform delivering security, performance, and development services through sixty-plus integrated services including SASE, application security, and full-stack development infrastructure.

Upguard1418 shared keywordsUpGuard provides a platform for managing cybersecurity risk, including third-party vendor and supply chain risk assessment. It is aimed at organizations seeking to evaluate and monitor the security posture of their vendors.

Trend Micro1311 shared keywordsTrendAI (Trend Micro) provides enterprise cybersecurity through its TrendAI Vision One platform, which unifies endpoint, network, cloud, and identity security with XDR visibility, threat intelligence, and AI-focused threat protection. It serves enterprise customers across 185 countries, including hybrid cloud, virtualized data center, and modern SOC environments.

Companies competing with Darktrace for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

Timeline · 37

launches, deals, and filings

Sep 2026

Darktrace Behavioral Defense Platform and Darktrace / SECURE AI unveiled

Darktrace unveiled the Behavioral Defense Platform, providing unified visibility, continuous behavioral monitoring and autonomous response, together with the launch of Darktrace / SECURE AI, in a September 22 launch broadcast.