European investor NordicEye wins big with Proofpoint’s $60 million offer for Weblife

Cybersecurity company Proofpoint is buying the Los Angeles-based security company Weblife.io in a $60 million all-cash deal.

Backed by a slew of investors led by the new venture firm NordicEye, an investment firm that looks to build a bridge between Northern European technology hubs and U.S. markets (specifically Los Angeles), the acquisition is a big return on investment for the little fund.

With the deal, Proofpoint adds a security service that sells hosted private internet browsing to businesses.

It’s a great exit for NordicEye, which has raised €20 million of a targeted €175 million for its first fund.

The firm led Weblife’s $3 million seed financing in 2016 as one of its first investments (even before it had gotten the official investment vehicle established) — taking a 30 percent stake in the company.

Sony and Amgen are both Weblife customers (Sony came on as a customer after its notorious hack a few years ago), and although the company has below $10 million in revenue, according to some sources, the technology has a lot of legs as companies need to respond to regulatory requirements coming from the EU.

According to a person familiar with NordicEye, the company achieved a more than 600 percent annualized return on investment with this exit.

Founded by David Melnick, the former head of Deloitte’s private security service, and based in Santa Monica, Calif., Weblife will enable Proofpoint to add personal email security capabilities on corporate networks.

The browser isolation technology from Weblife also means that end-user privacy is protected in accordance with the European Union General Data Protection Regulation. The new service will be available as part of Proofpoint’s Targeted Attack Protection (TAP) advanced threat suite in the first half of 2018.

“Organizations are having to confront the reality that employees will check their personal email from the corporate network, and will also use their corporate devices to check their email at home after work, on the road, and everywhere in between,” said David Melnick, Chief Executive Officer of Weblife.io, in a statement. “By combining Proofpoint’s advanced threat detection capabilities with our unique browser isolation solution, enterprises can now secure both corporate and personal email from advanced threats and compliance risks.”

According to a statement from Proofpoint, the acquisition is expected to have no material impact to billings, revenue, net income and free cash flow for both the fourth quarter of 2017 and the company’s 2018 fiscal year.