Lookout is a San Francisco-based provider of a mobile security platform that combines a real-time view of the world’s mobile data with machine intelligence to continuously identify, analyze, predict and eliminate mobile threats. Led by CEO Jim Dolce, the company’s platform is used by a worldwide community of over 50 million individuals and by major mobile operators including AT&T, EE, Deutsche Telekom, Sprint and T-Mobile. The company has offices in London and Tokyo. Lookout completed a $150M round of financing. It intends to use the funds to extend its reach to large enterprises through new product development and expanded go-to-market efforts. The financing was led by T. Rowe Price with participation from new and existing institutional investors. Lookout provides mobile security services that detect and block malicious threats using a cloud platform and a "mobile threat dataset." The company emphasizes a big-data approach where increased user adoption improves its threat intelligence. It reports about 45 million customers and says its model is largely cloud-based. Lookout plans to use new funding to expand in Europe and other international markets and to grow and launch enterprise offerings, specifically Lookout for Business, later this year. The company has partnerships with carriers and device OEMs (including a Samsung Knox partnership) to accelerate enterprise adoption. Management has said it may pursue acquisitions to add technology and enter new markets. Lookout builds mobile security software offering antivirus protection and device‑tracking for smartphones, with a focus on consumer adoption. The company reports about 30 million active installs, roughly 40% of which are outside the U.S. Its software already runs on iOS and Android, and Lookout has plans to support Windows Phone and other platforms if market penetration merits it. Lookout works with carriers and OEMs and describes its strategy as building a mobile‑security “ecosystem” with operators and device makers. The company has raised capital from top VCs and is positioned to expand international distribution through carrier partnerships. Recent strategic distribution deals aim to embed its service as a preloaded consumer option on shipped handsets. Lookout offers web-based, cloud-connected applications for Android, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry that provide tracking, data backup and malware protection, plus a mobile browsing app that blocks phishing and malicious sites. Its Mobile Threat Network analyzes global threat data using a dataset of over 700,000 mobile applications, adding more than 1,000 apps daily to identify and push protections via over-the-air updates. The company exposes its threat intelligence through a Mobile Security API used by carriers and app stores to screen apps. Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile are using Lookout’s API in their app storefronts. Lookout has grown to 12 million users and is adding about 1 million users per month. The company says it generates revenue from consumers and enterprise and plans to use new funding to expand internationally, develop products, hire staff, and build further carrier partnerships with a goal of reaching 100 million users. Lookout offers web-based, cloud-connected security applications for Android, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry that combine phone tracking and virus/malware protection. The company is launching Safe Browsing, a feature that checks every website a user visits from apps, email, or browsers on a mobile phone to block phishing sites and drive-by downloads in real time. Safe Browsing is part of Lookout Premium and automatically blocks access to malicious sites before they load. Lookout has carrier marketing deals to feature the app on phones, including a new deal with Sprint and existing deals with Verizon and T-Mobile. The company reported rapid user growth, increasing from 4 million users in December to 9 million users at the time of the article. Lookout recently raised $19.5 million in funding from Index Ventures, Accel Partners and Khosla Ventures.

Total raised

$295M

Funding rounds

6

Latest round

Series F

Latest activity

Aug 2014