Friday, January 21, 2011

Kaspersky collects General Atlantic backing

By Rodney H. Brown

Kaspersky Lab, the Russian Internet security firm with its Americas headquarters in Woburn, has taken in an investment from Connecticut’s General Atlantic LLC for an amount that, while undisclosed by the company, is reported at $200 million.

The report by Reuters states that the investment gives General Atlantic 20 percent of Kaspersky, making it the second largest shareholder in the company, which is confirmed in the release from Kaspersky.

Kapserksy officials said in the release that the major investment from General Atlantic “marks the next stage of Kaspersky Lab’s global growth strategy.” When he was named an All Star in November of 2009, CEO of Kaspersky Lab Americas Stephen Orenberg said that expanding the company’s reach into Latin America was a priority.

In August of 2009, Kaspersky launched a new consumer security software suite that prevents PCs from accidently downloading viruses, bots or other malicious software from social networking sites.

General Atlantic invests approximately $2 billion each year, with an average investment size of just over $200 million in 2010. Technology related investments include Lenovo, E*Trade, Priceline and Network Solutions.