VCs, Thiel To Profit from IronPort Sale

Venture firms rang in the New Year on a profitable note last week, after Cisco Systems announced that it would buy VC-backed network security provider IronPort Systems Inc. for $830 million in cash and stock. Profits from the acquisition will be shared among more than 12 venture firms and angel investors. Individual investors include Peter Thiel, who participated in IronPort’s $4 million Series A round in 2001 when he was CEO of PayPal. Other individual investors from the Series A funding include Hotmail co-founders Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith; PayPal CTO Max Levchin; eVoice founder Wendell Brown; and former Brocade Communications director and Whistle Communications CEO John Hamm. PE Week subscribers can get the full story at PE Week.