Brisbane-based cybersecurity startup Assetnote has been acquired by British firm Searchlight Cyber in a deal valued at more than $100 million, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Photo Credit: Assetnote
The company, founded in 2018 by Michael Gianarakis and Shubham Shah, specialises in Attack Surface Management (ASM), providing businesses with tools to identify vulnerabilities in their cybersecurity infrastructure. Since its founding, Assetnote has maintained profitability while serving major clients including Atlassian, Qantas, Canva, Linktree, and Afterpay.
Photo Credit: Assetnote
Gianarakis explained to AFR that Assetnote’s software emerged after companies expressed interest in a tool for uncovering code flaws. The founders chose to grow without external venture capital funding, with Gianarakis noting to AFR that they “never really met a VC that we trusted enough.”
The acquisition, announced on January 29, 2025, marks Searchlight Cyber’s first acquisition. The British company plans to integrate Assetnote’s ASM solution with its dark web intelligence and monitoring capabilities to create a comprehensive Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) platform.
As part of the agreement, both founders will remain with the company. The entire Assetnote team will join Searchlight, with Gianarakis and Shah leading the ASM division and managing engineering and research teams from Brisbane.
The transaction was supported by AGC Partners as exclusive financial advisor to Assetnote, while Mintz and Corrs Chambers Westgarth served as legal advisors to Searchlight.
The deal follows Searchlight’s strategic growth investment from Charlesbank Capital Partners announced in January 2024. Charlesbank Capital Partners currently manages approximately $19 billion in assets as of September 30, 2024.
Published 5-February-2025