Brightmail

San Francisco, United States Founded: 1998 • Age: 28 yrs Acquired By Symantec
Anti-spam solutions and web filtering tools are provided for ISPs.

About Brightmail

Brightmail is a Technology company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 1998, and was acquired by Symantec in May 2004. It operates as an anti-spam solutions and web filtering tools are provided for ISPs. Brightmail has raised $35 million across 1 funding round from investors including Symantec, Broadcom and Accel. Its focus areas include Enterprise Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Email Security and SEG. Its competitors include Mimecast, Tessian, Vade Secure, Cyren and FrontBridge and 5 more; 8 of its 10 listed competitors have raised funding.

Company details

Brightmail was founded in 1998 in San Francisco, United States, focusing on cybersecurity for email and web threats. Server-based anti-spam and virus-blocking tools were developed and supplied to internet service providers such as ATT WorldNet, EarthLink, MSN, TelstraClear, and Verizon Online. Investment from Symantec occurred in 2000, followed by acquisition in 2004. The brand persisted under Symantec until 2011, when products transitioned to Symantec Messaging Gateway.

Key Metrics
  • Total Equity Funding
    $35M (USD)

    in 1 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $35M (USD), Series D

    Jul 2000

  • Investors
    Symantec

    & 10 more

  • Acquired by
    Symantec

    (May 2004)

Funding Insights of Brightmail

Brightmail has successfully raised a total of $35M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Series D round of $35 million completed in July 2000. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.

  • Total Funding $35M
  • Total Rounds 1
  • Last Round Series D β€” $35M
  • First Round $35M

    (Jul 2000)

  • Investors Count 10

All 1 funding rounds of Brightmail with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Jul 2000$35MSeries D–Broadcom
Valuation history

11 investors in total: 8 institutional and 3 angel.

Investors in Brightmail

Brightmail has secured backing from 11 investors, including venture fund, institutional, and angel investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Symantec, Broadcom and Accel.

All
Venture Fund
Institutional
Angel
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
Investments are focused by Edventure Holdings on US tech startups.
–edventure.comNew York, United States
Accel is recognized as a leading venture capital firm.
1983accel.comPalo Alto, United States
Venture capital is invested in various sectors by Crosslink Capital.
–crosslinkcapital.comSan Francisco, United States
Venture capital is invested in global technology companies by TCV.
–tcv.comMenlo Park, United States
-
–opportunitycapitalpartners.com-
Wealth management services are provided to high-net-worth clients.
1999tweisel.comSan Francisco, United States
Data center fiber optic networks and connectivity solutions are provided.
1991broadcom.comCalifornia, United States
Symantec is recognized for providing enterprise cloud cybersecurity solutions.
1982symantec.comMountain View, United States

Bill Joy

Co-founder of Sun Microsystems, prominent tech investor, and venture capitalist.
–unknown_522ea238113c43049-

Andy Bechtolsheim

Co-founder of Sun Microsystems, early Google investor, prominent tech angel investor.
–unknown_4fe73fe5c3c14e398-
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Investor details for Brightmail

The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.

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  • Round participation
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.

Timeline of Brightmail

3 dated milestones of Brightmail across 6 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.

  1. Founded Brightmail is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round of $35.0M.
  3. Exit Acquired by Symantec.

Competitors of Brightmail

Brightmail has 10 listed competitors in our database, 8 of them funded. They include Mimecast, Tessian, Vade Secure, Cyren and FrontBridge, among others.

Company NameDomainFoundedHQ LocationTotal fundingEmployeesDescription
mimecast.com2003London, United Kingdom$260.94M79,693
Cloud-based email security and management solutions are provided.
tessian.com2013San Francisco, United States$182.19M222
AI-driven email security solutions are delivered to prevent recipient errors.
vadesecure.com2008Lille, France$121.35M–
AI-based email security solutions are provided against threats.
cyren.com1991Herzliya, Israel–248
Cloud-based email security and anti-spam solutions are provided via SaaS.
frontbridge.com2002Los Angeles, United States$18M–
Coud-based secure email gateway for filtering, encryption, and archiving
titanhq.com2003Galway, Ireland$650,000–
Secure email gateways, anti-spam filters, and archiving solutions are delivered.
seculetter.com2015Seongnam-si, South Korea$9.74M–
Email security is delivered via static and dynamic analysis.
halon.io2002Gothenburg, Sweden––
Secure SMTP software is offered for email security and scripting.
mailfrontier.com2002Palo Alto, United States$21.54M–
Appliance-based email security against spam and phishing is provided.
sendio.com2003Newport Beach, United States$7M–
Email security is delivered through hosted or on-premise gateways.
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Detailed competitors of Brightmail

The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.

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  • Operating metrics
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Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.

Web traffic of Brightmail

Websites that share an audience with Brightmail (brightmail.com).

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Brightmail. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
novell.com
100%
97.8K#376,961View details
allstarshop.com
allstarshop.com
100%
–#3,886,929–
users.bigpond.net.au
users.bigpond.net.au
100%
–––
alltheweb.com
100%
2.5K#8,014,718View details
vesa.org
100%
81.8K–View details
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
Premium access

All 15 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Brightmail

The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.

  • 15 similar websites
  • Audience overlap
  • Engagement analytics
  • Traffic by brand

Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.

Top companies in Cybersecurity & Data Protection

10 companies that operate in the same segment as Brightmail (Cybersecurity & Data Protection), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
Cloud based website security solutions
2009San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 332.1 MUSD 1.67 B7,330
Cybersecurity and zero trust solutions are delivered for secure networks.
2007San Jose, California, United StatesUSD 148 MUSD 3.35 B9,616
Cloud-based identity management solutions are provided for enterprises.
2002Denver, Colorado, United StatesUSD 136.89 MUSD 36.94 M821
Ledger is recognized for providing secure cryptocurrency hardware wallets.
2014Paris, Ile de France, FranceUSD 575.4 M–802
AI-based software suites are developed for navigation applications.
1893Paris, France–USD 26.01 B83,020
Cloud based platform offering IT operational data and security analytics software
2003San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 40 MUSD 2.59 M108
Cloud-based enterprise management solutions including backup and recovery are provided.
2003Singapore, SingaporeUSD 658 M–1,898
Cloud-based identity management and authentication are provided for enterprises.
2009San Francisco, California, United StatesUSD 228.5 MUSD 2.92 B7,934
Cloud and application performance management platform is provided.
2010New York, New York, United StatesUSD 147.19 MUSD 2.68 B6,500
Identity security solutions are provided to secure identities across infrastructures.
1999Petah Tikva, Central District, IsraelUSD 59 MUSD 1 B3,790
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Frequently Asked Questions about Brightmail

Brightmail was founded in 1998 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.

Brightmail is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.

Brightmail is a funded company, having raised a total of $35M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series D of $35M, raised on Jul 2000.

Brightmail was founded in 1998 in San Francisco, United States, focusing on cybersecurity for email and web threats. Server-based anti-spam and virus-blocking tools were developed and supplied to internet service providers such as ATT WorldNet, EarthLink, MSN, TelstraClear, and Verizon Online. Investment from Symantec occurred in 2000, followed by acquisition in 2004. The brand persisted under Symantec until 2011, when products transitioned to Symantec Messaging Gateway.

Brightmail's top competitors include Mimecast, Tessian and Halon.

Brightmail has 11 investors. Key investors include Symantec, Broadcom, Accel, Thomas Weisel Partners, and Edventure Holdings.

Yes. Brightmail was acquired by Symantec in May 2004.

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