CrowdStrike IPO Plan: MSSPs Could Be Critical -

CrowdStrike has hired Goldman Sachs Group to prepare an initial public offering (IPO) that could arrive in the first half of 2019, according to Reuters. The company also is targeting a valuation of more than $3 billion.

CrowdStrike develops Falcon, a cloud-based endpoint protection platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to provide threat intelligence and cyber protection.

MSSPs could play a key role in Crowdstrike's target. The company's partner program gained an MSSP designation in August 2018. The firm launched certifications and a Secureworks partnership a few weeks later.

CrowdStrike Funding So Far

CrowdStrike previously secured $200 million in Series E funding in June 2018, raising its total financing to more than $480 million. In addition, CrowdStrike's valuation was more than $3 billion at this time, the company indicated.

CrowdStrike has doubled its revenue over the past year, the company said. It also reached the following financial milestones:

500 percent year-over-year growth in the number of $1 million or greater annual contract value (ACV) transactions.
172 percent year-over-year growth in new subscription bookings ACV.
167 percent year-over-year growth in the number of subscription customers.
140 percent year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue.

Furthermore, CrowdStrike doubled its headcount in the past year and currently has 1,238 employees globally.

What Would an IPO Mean for CrowdStrike?

An IPO could help CrowdStrike differentiate itself from rivals in a global endpoint security market that is projected to grow.

Global endpoint security market revenues are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4 percent between 2015 and 2020, according to industry analyst MarketsandMarkets. Also, global endpoint security market revenues could reach nearly $17.4 billion by 2020.

CrowdStrike could follow in the footsteps of other cybersecurity companies that have capitalized on IPOs, too.

Cybersecurity firms Zscaler and Tenable both went public earlier this year, and each company's shares are currently trading above their respective IPO prices. Comparatively, endpoint security company Carbon Black went public in May, and its shares have been trading below their IPO price.

What Is CrowdStrike?

CrowdStrike's Falcon platform is designed to safeguard organizations against all types of cyberattacks. It correlates over 1 trillion security events per week from across the globe to help organizations detect and prevent cyberattacks.

CrowdStrike also offers the Elevate Partner Program for MSSPs, managed service providers (MSPs), solution providers and systems integrators (SIs). Elevate enables channel partners to leverage Falcon to develop and deploy AI-based security services and defend their customers against cyberattacks.