Brisbane-based entrepreneurs Michael Gianarakis and Shubham Shah have sold their cybersecurity start-up, Assetnote, for more than $100 million to British firm Searchlight Cyber, backed by private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners.
Founded in 2018, Assetnote specialises in attack surface management, helping companies identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
“We had a bunch of these companies turn around and say, ‘Well, if you were selling this, we would be buying it,’” Gianarakis told AFR, explaining the origins of Assetnote’s software tool, which was designed to uncover flaws in code.
With high-profile clients like Atlassian, Qantas, and Canva, Assetnote has been profitable since its inception.
Despite overtures from venture capitalists, Gianarakis said they never found the right partner and instead grew the company without external funding.
“We never really met a VC that we trusted enough,” he said.
After the acquisition, Gianarakis and Shah will continue working with Assetnote.
Gianarakis expressed pride in building a successful company outside the typical tech start-up ecosystem, stating, “We’re more traditional. In our opinion, Silicon Valley didn’t invent business.”
Source: AFR.
