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IronNet, once a darling of the cybersecurity sector, collapsed as a public company in 2023 following its listing on the New York Stock Exchange through a SPAC transaction in August 2021.
Given the company’s high profile and widely respected founder, General Keith Alexander, the former Director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), alongside a board that included figures such as Ted Schlein, a partner at Kleiner Perkins who led the firm’s cybersecurity investments, and Don Dixon, founder of one of the world’s largest cybersecurity funds, news of the company’s difficulties prompted some critics to portray IronNet as an example of the risks associated with SPAC-era cybersecurity listings. The reality, however, was more mundane. By 2023, 32 companies that had gone public through SPAC mergers at the height of the SPAC boom had filed for bankruptcy.
However, one of IronNet’s minority shareholders, C5 Capital, which was not represented on the company’s board at the time of its collapse, quietly continued efforts to rescue the business by taking IronNet private from the NYSE. In February 2024, IronNet emerged as a private company following a Chapter 11 reorganisation led by ITC Secure, another C5 portfolio company, which provided debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing.
Earlier this year, IronNet announced its combination with ITC Secure, a Microsoft Gold cybersecurity services partner, to create Collective Defence, a new global defence platform designed to protect critical infrastructure against hybrid threats. The name Collective Defence encapsulates the original vision of IronNet’s founder: countries and companies defending together at machine speed are best placed to prevail against the escalating aggression of nation-state adversaries. Collective defence is also a key pillar of Microsoft’s global cybersecurity strategy.
Last week, IronNet completed the funding of its Chapter 11 plan, with $12.9 million provided by C5 Capital. This enabled the company to pay creditors under the terms of the court-approved Chapter 11 plan, concluding its successful execution.
IronNet’s revival suggests the company may yet continue its original mission, now as part of Collective Defence.
