Avast

Digital security products
Invested in
2010
Status

IPO 2018

Merged with NortonLifeLock in 2022

Location
Prague, Czech Republic
Sector
Technology
Sector
Technology

|
20x

Revenue growth during Summit’s investment

435M+

Users worldwide, growing from 100M at time of Summit’s investment

14x

Employee growth, expanding headcount from 120 in Prague to approximately 1700 employees worldwide

IPO

Completed IPO in 2018, later merged with NortonLifeLock to form Gen Digital

20x

Revenue growth during Summit’s investment

435M+

Users worldwide, growing from 100M at time of Summit’s investment

14x

Employee growth, expanding headcount from 120 in Prague to approximately 1700 employees worldwide

IPO

Completed IPO in 2018, later merged with NortonLifeLock to form Gen Digital

Avast Software began as a software cooperative in former Czechoslovakia. By 2010 – more than 25 years later – the company had built a leading antivirus software, protecting millions of users from online threats. With its disruptive freemium business model, Avast was growing strongly and profitably, and sought a global investor to provide strategic advice and provide partial liquidity for shareholders. In 2010, Avast chose to partner with Summit.

How Summit Partners Helped

  • Initially invested $100 million for a minority stake, as the company’s first institutional investor
  • Assisted in the recruitment of a CFO, head of e-commerce, head of analytics and head of marketing
  • Helped improve the company’s operational and financial reporting systems to better position Avast for rapid growth
  • Advised on the company’s expansion into mobile and other lines of business
  • Worked closely with management to build  a strong board of directors, including Ken Goldman (Yahoo!), John Schwarz (Business Objects and Symantec) and Ulf Claesson (HP)
  • Helped lead a recapitalization of the business sponsored by CVC Partners in 2014
  • Sourced, helped evaluate and complete several acquisitions, including providing support for Avast’s transformative $1.3 billion acquisition of AVG in 2016. This acquisition created one of the largest threat detection network in the world.

During Summit’s investment, Avast grew into a global leader in digital security products, protecting more than 435 million users from threats on the internet and the evolving IoT threat landscape. At the time of Summit’s 2019 exit, the company’s threat detection network was among the most advanced in the world, using machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to detect and stop threats in real time. Today, Avast operates as part of Gen, a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom through its trusted Cyber Safety brands

Get the Latest from Summit Partners

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on our partners, portfolio, and more.