Growth equity investor Summit Partners has invested USD100m in Avast Software, the developer of an antivirus programme, for a minority stake in the company.
“Summit Partners’ investment is a vote of confidence in our disruptive ‘freemium’ business model, which combines a full-fledged free product with a premium one,” says Vince Steckler, chief executive of Avast Software. “This approach is already upsetting the traditional antivirus market. Instead of paying for advertising or installation on new computers, Avast continues to experience dramatic growth as fans of avast! recommend our products to their friends.”
avast! antivirus now protects one out of every five computers around the world from malware. Its protection is based on the CommunityIQ system of user-submitted data on suspected viruses and infected websites.
Scott Collins, a managing director of Summit Partners who will join the Avast Software board of directors, says: “Under the direction of its chief executive Vince Steckler and its co-founders Pavel Baudis and Eduard Kucera, Avast Software has carved a unique position in the global marketplace for security software. We are pleased to invest in Avast and look forward to working closely with Vince and the entire management team to support the company’s continued growth.”
