According to TechCrunch, cybersecurity company Armis has raised a $435 million pre-IPO round that values the company at $6.1 billion. The funding was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with significant participation from CapitalG and new investor Evolution Equity Partners. This marks a solid jump from the company’s $4.5 billion valuation in a tender offer from just last August. Co-founder and CEO Yevegny Dibrov stated the company is aiming for an IPO in late 2026 or early 2027. Armis has hit $300 million in annual recurring revenue and plans to reach $500 million before going public. The round comes after the company reportedly received seven acquisition offers, including a potential $5 billion bid from private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
IPO dreams and reality
Here’s the thing: calling an IPO your “personal dream” is a bold statement. It’s refreshingly honest, but it also puts a ton of pressure on the company to deliver. Dibrov says Armis is already “behaving like a public company” by hitting quarterly financial targets. That’s the right playbook, but the market’s memory is long. Investors will remember this declaration, and they’ll hold him to it. The timeline of late 2026 or early 2027 gives them a decent runway, but two to three years is an eternity in tech. A lot can change.
The acquisition road not taken
Turning down seven acquisition offers, including a $5 billion one from Thoma Bravo, is a massive bet on themselves. In cybersecurity, the exit path has overwhelmingly been through M&A. Just look at Wiz, the high-flying startup that agreed to sell to Google for $23 billion instead of pursuing its own IPO. Taking the acquisition money is the safer, surer bet. By choosing the harder path, Armis is signaling immense confidence in its ability to grow into and even surpass that $6 billion+ valuation as a public entity. It’s a gutsy move, but is it the right one? Only time will tell if they left a sure thing on the table.
The public market gauntlet
Armis is entering a pretty sparse field. As the source notes, there have been very few significant cybersecurity IPOs lately—SentinelOne in 2021, Rubrik last year, and Netscope just in September. The public markets have been brutal to tech companies, especially those that are not yet profitable. Armis’s goal to become cash flow positive before the IPO is non-negotiable. With $300 million in ARR, they have a solid foundation, but getting to $500 million while also reaching profitability is a steep climb. They’re playing in the critical infrastructure space, which is a huge market, but also one with intense competition and long sales cycles. Becoming a public company means living and dying by quarterly earnings reports, and that’s a whole different kind of pressure.
