Netskope

Netskope provides cloud security solutions for enterprises that include cloud-delivered secure web gateways (SWGs), cloud access security brokers (CASB), and other solutions to manage access to cloud workloads. These solutions help companies monitor the use of cloud applications and identify suspicious behavior. Netskope’s tools attempt to replace legacy solutions such as VPNs. The company introduced a unified solution in 2019 called “NewEdge,” combining its security technology offerings and providing them under secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. The rollout followed the acquisition of New Edge Labs in 2019 for an undisclosed amount, in line with its strategy of acquiring smaller startups to fuel expansion. Netskope also acquired Sift Security in 2018, which provides a machine learning-based tool to detect and respond to threats to cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) applications such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Netskope joined the cohort of Solista’s Zero Trust Alliance in July 2021, to assist Australian organizations in developing a toolset and framework in assessing their zero trust readiness while detecting and remediating internal and external threats.

NewEdge is delivered using data centers in 40 regions worldwide including North America, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, enabling a low-latency cloud security offering. As of March 2021, the company had invested in excess of USD 100 million to build the NewEdge infrastructure. The company claimed that its tools protected more than 10% of Microsoft Office 365’s commercial users as of the same date.

Netskope’s product offerings were backed by more than 100 global patents as of January 2023, and the company served more than 2,400 customers globally including more than 25 of the Fortune 100 companies. Furthermore the company has a total employee headcount of more than 2,500 in more than 40 countries.

In April 2023 Netskope announced the addition of a new software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) service to its platform, designed to provide enterprises with the ability to ensure secure access to their infrastructure from endpoint devices in any location. Netskope planned to offer the new SD-WAN alongside its existing SSE product to provide a unified SASE client, which it claimed was an industry first.

In June 2023, Netskope updated its secure service edge (SSE) platform to help address data leakage risks of generative AI applications like ChatGPT. The updated platform allows organizations to track usage of generative AI applications, manage access controls, and automatically prevents leakage of sensitive information.

Key customers and partnerships

In July 2021, Netskope partnered with cybersecurity company, Chillisoft, to accelerate sales for cloud-based SASE protection to 1,250 resellers and integrators, including more than 100 managed service providers (MSPs) across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Netskope acquired the IoT security startup WootCloud in June 2022 integrating WootCloud’s HyperContext Security platform with its Intelligent Security Service Edge (SSE) platform to expand its SSE and Zero Trust capabilities. This was followed by the acquisition of cloud networking vendor Infiot in August 2022 to deliver an integrated single-vendor SASE platform to its customers by leveraging Infiot’s technologies to offer a uniform security and quality of experience (QoE) policies to the Netskope Borderless WAN.

Netskope partnered with Stellar Cyber, a open extended detection and response (Open XDR) startup in December 2022, to provide a joint solution that incorporates rich user-centric data to improve control and visibility of risks and threats across incident investigations conducted by Security Operation Center (SOC) analysts.

Funding and financials

In January 2023, the company raised USD 401 million in convertible notes led by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value. The funds were utilized to accelerate platform development and expand its go-to-market strategy.