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RSAC ISBISB 2005WinnerAcquired
Sourcefire
Network Security
Network security and intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS); creator of the Snort open-source IDS.
Founded
2001
ISB Year
2005
Raised
$56.5M
Exit Price
$2.7B
Years to Exit
12 years
Year Acquired
2013
Funding & Investors
Total Funding
$56.5M
Rounds
Series A ($6M), Series B ($15M), Series C ($22M), Series D ($13.5M)
Key Investors
Sierra VenturesNew Enterprise Associates (NEA)Core Capital PartnersSequoia Capital
Outcome
Acquisition
Acquired by Cisco Systems in 2013 for $2.7B
Notes
IPO in 2007 raising $71M. First-ever Innovation Sandbox winner (then called 'Innovation Station').
Lesson Learned
Open-source community building (Snort) created massive adoption that translated into commercial success. Lesson: give away the detection engine, sell the management platform.