British startup Darktrace valued at $825 million after latest investment

Cambridge security startup Darktrace has raised another $75 million valuing the artificial intelligence threat swatter at $825 million.

Darktrace was founded by University of Cambridge mathematicians, and its Enterprise Immune System uses AI to detect threats, preventing everything from standard malware to never-before-seen zero days or even insider attacks. The system can either alert IT admins of odd behaviour, letting them decide what recourse to take, or automatically take action itself, such as stopping ransomware from encrypting files mid-attack.

The company is the latest British tech firm to near the "unicorn" milestone, after simulation software Improbable topped the $1 billion valuation earlier this year. The latest figures from the Mayor of London's London & Partners suggests startup investment in the city remains on track, despite the threat of Brexit.

Darktrace has now raised $180 million, with the latest Series D financing round led by Insight Venture Partners.

"Insight Venture Partners has a proven record of partnering with tech-focused firms, and its backing of Darktrace is another strong validation of the fundamental and differentiated technology that the Enterprise Immune System represents," said Nicole Eagan, CEO at Darktrace, in a statement.

"It marks another critical milestone for the company as we experience unprecedented growth in the US market and are rapidly expanding across Latin America and Asia Pacific in particular, as organsations are increasingly turning to our AI approach to enhance their resilience to cyber attackers."

Darktrace is in use across 3,000 networks globally, including at BT, with the company saying the latest round of investment will fund further expansion. The Cambridge startup has also won investment from Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy, and is now co-based in Cambridge and San Francisco.