New investor C5 Capital has closed its second investment as it continues to push towards a final close of $125 million for its maiden fund.
The fund has been set up by former founding member of The Carlyle Group’s European technology fund Nazo Moosa alongside Andre Pienaar, a serial entrepreneur and founder of the Good Governance Group.
C5 Capital says that its creation is due to a ‘clear gap in the market’ – namely no dedicated investor in the data and security space, unlike the US.
Specialist investors in the US have been set up by former US military and secret service personnel around Silicon Valley, as well as in the region of Atlanta due to its proximity with Georgia Tech University.
Its second commitment, which comes after acquiring a minority stake in Metrasens, involves an $8 million injection into cyber security venture BalaBit. Based in Luxembourg and Hungary, BalaBit is involved in contextual security intelligence, described as a monitoring rather than control-based approach to IT security.
C5 Capital is still in fundraising mode and is targeting a final close of $125 million from high net worths and family offices in the US, Europe and Middle East.
Moosa reveals that C5 Capital has a ‘laser sharp’ focus on the global security sector. ‘Security and data have moved into clearer focus in recent years given the increasing importance for governments, consumers and enterprises,’ she adds.
‘Growth rates across the range of subsections are significantly outpacing Western GDP. But despite these attractive characteristics, there is no other fund singularly focused on the sector in Europe. This is the gap that C5 Capital will fill.’
Figures from Gartner suggest that the information security market is worth $67 billion globally and is experiencing growth of 8.5 per cent a year. Furthermore, C5 Capital says, it has become a region of strategic focus for company boards.
Commenting on the investment from C5 Capital in his business, BalaBit chief executive Zoltan Gyorko says, ‘We chose to work with C5 because they demonstrated the best understanding of our products and end market while working with us in a collegial, entrepreneurial and friendly manner.’
