Cloudflare Raises $150 Million, Probably Delaying Rumored IPO

Global CDN technology company Cloudflare raised $150 million in its latest round of funding, led by Franklin Templeton. This new funding round for Cloudflare likely delays the initial public offering (IPO) it had planned for the first half of 2019. The $150 million in funding would give Cloudflare some extra time to strengthen its balance sheet before hitting the stock market.

Cloudflare last raised funding in 2014, closing a round of $110 million. To date, Cloudflare has raised more than $330 million from investors including New Enterprise Associates, Union Square Ventures, Venrock, Pelion Venture Partners, Greenspring Associates, CapitalG (formerly Google Capital), Microsoft, Baidu, Qualcomm, and Fidelity.

Franklin Templeton joins these investors leading this latest round of funding, which will be used to support Cloudflare’s growth, extend product ranges, and continue its international expansion into new markets.

Cloudflare Board Additions

Cloudflare also continues to strengthen its board of directors with the additions of Maria Eitel and Stan Meresman. Eitel and Meresman join Cloudflare’s existing board of directors, which now includes NEA Managing Director Scott Sandell, Pelion Venture Managing Partner Carl Ledbetter, Cloudflare Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Prince, and Cloudflare Co-Founder and COO Michelle Zatlyn.

“I’m honored to welcome Maria and Stan to our board of directors,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “Both of them bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our board and know what it takes to propel companies forward. Our entire board looks forward to working with them as we continue to help build a better Internet.”

Maria Eitel served as Deputy Director of Media Affairs at The White House under President George H.W. Bush, while also was a special assistant to President George H.W. Bush. She now serves as the co-chair of the Nike Foundation and chair of Girl Effect, an independent nonprofit created by Nike in 2008 to focus on ending poverty globally. Eitel joined Nike in 1998 as its first vice president of corporate responsibility. She previously also ran European corporate affairs for Microsoft.

“My career has been focused on creating global change, and the Internet is a huge part of that,” said Maria Eitel. “The Internet has the ability to unleash human potential, and I believe that Cloudflare is one of the major players able to drive the change that’s necessary for the world and Internet community.”

Stan Meresman is a board member and chair of the Audit Committee of Guardant Health (GH), Snap (SNAP) and Medallia, and formerly served in such roles at LinkedIn, Palo Alto Networks, Zynga, Meru, Riverbed Technology, and Polycom. He was previously CFO of Silicon Graphics (SGI) and Cypress Semiconductor (CY). Meresman holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Cloudflare’s CDN technologies, customer base, and global network have helped propel the company to a position of leadership in the Internet ecosystem,” said Stan Meresman. “I look forward to lending my skills and expertise to Cloudflare’s board in order to continue this growth and make even more of an impact.”