(Bloomberg) -- Heather Bellini, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner and top software and internet analyst, has been named chief financial officer at Deep Instinct, a cybersecurity software startup that is preparing for a future initial public offering.
Deep Instinct, which aims to use artificial intelligence tools to prevent attacks, plans an IPO in 24 to 36 months, a spokesman said. Bellini, 50, has been a partner at Goldman since 2012, led its technology research group and has covered Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Deep Instinct, which is based in Tel Aviv and New York, pointed to her experience covering the IPOs of more than 20 companies, including Facebook, Atlassian Inc., Dropbox Inc. and Slack Technologies Inc., as important given the company's plans.
“First priorities will be helping to put the financial and operational infrastructure in place to scale the business globally and set the company on the path to the public markets,” Bellini said.
The company has raised more than $92 million from investors, including Nvidia GPU Ventures, Coatue Management and HP Tech Ventures, according to Crunchbase. Deep Instinct said it had a 400% increase in annual recurring revenue and a 300% increase in customers last year, while declining to provide specific numbers. This year, the company expects to double its annual recurring revenue. Its endpoint protection software uses deep learning techniques to predict and prevent malware from entering a system, or to detect it quickly and fix the issue.
Bellini's career as a technology analyst stretches back to the early 1990s and included stints at Oppenheimer, Lehman Brothers and International Strategy & Investment Group before arriving at Goldman. She is scheduled to start Jan. 1, replacing Naama Geva who will become Deep Instinct's chief accounting officer.
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