Exabeam Growth and the Opportunity Ahead

Today is a big day at Exabeam. First, we announced a $200 million Series F growth round at a valuation of $2.4 billion. Second, we welcomed a new president and CEO, Michael (Mike) DeCesare, to the company. Below you’ll find the email I sent to our customers and partners this morning sharing the news. It’s an exciting moment in our journey – both for Exabeam and myself.  

There’s a process every founder goes through — I call it the founder’s dilemma — where you evaluate whether or not your leadership style is still a match for the business. I’d been thinking about it for some time. As a founder and first CEO, you’re deep in the weeds. You become proficient at tackling day-to-day issues across the organization because you’ve built every aspect of the business. Stepping back to see the big picture and orchestrating for scale often requires a different type of leader. Do you forge ahead or bring in someone new? 

I felt we needed a next-level CEO to guide us through our continued growth as we scale the company, and Mike is the perfect fit. I’m thrilled to have him at the helm, and as I’m remaining with the company on the executive team, I look forward to working alongside him every day as we continue to build value for customers.

When we started Exabeam in 2013, we endeavored to build a security management platform that would inexplicably change the way security teams worked for the better. We accomplished that and more. Exabeam defined the user entity and behavior analytics (UEBA) category and is a leader in the security information and event management (SIEM) market. Our capabilities expanded, our platform moved to the cloud, and we continue to innovate — now reimagining Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response (TDIR) with a use case-based open XDR.

Thank you for being on this growth journey with us. There’s only more to come. I’m as passionate about Exabeam now as I was on day one, and look forward to the opportunity ahead.

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Hello,

We’re excited to share with you that Exabeam announced a $200 million Series F growth round at a valuation of $2.4 billion. 

To say we’re optimistic about the opportunity ahead is an understatement. Exabeam is tackling a big problem — making security success the norm. Our solutions address the full lifecycle of Threat Detection, Investigation, and Response (TDIR). Our outcomes-based approach helps security teams build resilience to threats, from the most common and trivial to the most advanced and sophisticated. With our security analytics and automation, XDR, and SIEM capabilities this funding round gives us the ability to scale and continue executing on our vision to deliver the number one trusted cloud security operations (SecOps) platform on the market.

As you’ll read in the press release, Exabeam also announced the appointment of our new CEO and President, Michael (Mike) DeCesare. Mike starts with the company today.

I felt the time was right to bring in a new leader for Exabeam’s next stage of growth so I approached the board about a change. They supported me and together we started an executive search. Mike checked all the boxes of what we were looking for: knowledge of enterprise security, IPO and public company experience, a high-energy leadership style, and great cultural fit. Mike leads with a people-first mentality, is passionate about our business opportunity and unyielding about delivering customer value. 

Some of you may already know Mike. He’s a cybersecurity veteran who has led high-growth security companies. He was President of McAfee, and most recently was the CEO and President of ForeScout Technologies. He understands our customers, our partners and our business. I wholeheartedly believe he’s the right leader to take Exabeam through its next phase of growth. And I’m not going anywhere — I will be staying on at Exabeam and working closely alongside Mike. My role is Chairman of the Board and I’ll remain on the executive team. Please give a warm, Exabeam welcome to Mike!

In addition, Exabeam Chief Product Officer, Adam Geller, will now lead both our product and engineering organizations, ensuring even tighter integration and collaboration as Exabeam innovates and invests in creating the number one trusted cloud security operations (SecOps) platform. These teams have already been working closely together for some time so this change sets us up for greater alignment.

Our achievements also came with the challenges faced by any fast-growing company. You’ve been with us every step of the way. I want to thank you for your continued business and partnership with Exabeam as we’ve worked together through both growing pains and celebrating successes. We wouldn’t be where we are today without you, our valued customers and partners. We remain hard at work delivering the best SecOps solution on the market. 

Exabeam is well-positioned to take advantage of the major shifts happening in IT today. Innovation is in our DNA and we have just the right team in place to tackle our next big phase of growth. I couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead for Exabeam. I look forward to introducing you to Mike and continuing working with you.

Nir

Nir Polak
Chairman of the Board and Co-founder
Exabeam