Cocoon Data hires MA Moelis to sell secure-file-sharing business
Cocoon Data, a local encryption and data protection company, has put its secure-file-sharing business on the market as it pivots to focus its attention on a new API encryption service for software developers.
The sale process, run by MA Moelis Australia, comes at an opportune time, with cybersecurity assets in demand. Not only is there increased focus on data privacy in the regulated sector, but there is opportunity to expand, including into defence and defence-adjacent industries.
A sale flyer has been circulated among prospective buyers, with non-binding indicative offers expected early next month. The deal is set to be completed before the end of the year, sources told Street Talk.
Cocoon Data has switched its focus to a next-generation encryption service which uses algorithms to guard against quantum computing attacks Shutterstock
Cocoon Data’s secure-file-sharing business has been pitched as an infrastructure-agnostic cloud play with plenty of patented encryption technology to go with it. It has a portfolio of cloud certifications, nowhere more than in Australia and the United States, which allows it to be used by government agencies and in defence for transferring sensitive documents.
The file-sharing service charges per user, starting from as few as 10 per organisation – from about $US25 ($39) per month.
As for the numbers, sources said the company had annual recurring revenue of around $5 million, and a pipeline to get that to $30 million. The company has recorded a compound annual growth rate of 40 per cent over the past three years and gross margins run at over 70 per cent, given its low operating costs.
Its customers include government, various defence groups in the US and commercial customers, potential suitors have been told.
It has been a few years since Cocoon Data was on Street Talk’s radar. In 2021, the company raised $5 million from wealthy individual investors in a pre-IPO funding round as it worked on its defence accreditations in the US.
At the time, encrypted data storage was all the rage. CipherStash, a start-up in the space, added AirTree Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners to its register in an oversubscribed seed round that year, for example.
Since then, Cocoon Data has switched its focus to a next-generation encryption service which uses algorithms to guard against quantum computing attacks, the next frontier in cybersecurity.
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