- Emily Orton, co-founder and former CMO of AI cybersecurity leader Darktrace, has joined Expedition Growth Capital as an Operating Advisor
- Emily was instrumental in building Darktrace from a Cambridge startup into a global cybersecurity leader with $600M+ ARR, 6,000+ customers, and a successful IPO in 2021. The company was acquired by Thoma Bravo for $5.3 billion in 2024
- Throughout her career, Emily has been widely recognized as a leader in her field, garnering recognition in the Top 100 Global B2B CMO 2023 Awards; Management Today’s ‘35 Women under 35 2020’; ‘Maserati 100 2018’; and Cofinitive’s ‘#OnetoWatch 2018’ lists of UK entrepreneurs
London, United Kingdom, and Boston, Massachusetts, 21 July 2025 – Expedition Growth Capital (“Expedition”) is pleased to announce that Emily Orton has joined the firm as an Operating Advisor.
Emily co-founded Darktrace in 2013 and served as Chief Marketing Officer for nearly a decade. During her tenure, she helped scale the business into one of the UK’s most prominent technology companies, culminating in its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021 and inclusion in the FTSE 100.
As a key executive, Emily shaped Darktrace’s market positioning and brand narrative, helping to define a new category of AI-driven cyber defence. Her leadership contributed to major growth milestones, including $600M+ in annual recurring revenue, global customer expansion, and widespread industry recognition. Emily was named one of the world’s Top 100 B2B CMOs in 2023, among other accolades. Prior to Darktrace, Emily held senior roles at Autonomy and Invoke Capital, where she helped incubate new ventures in AI and cybersecurity.
As an Operating Advisor at Expedition, Emily will support founders in scaling high-trust software brands from early success to international growth, leveraging her deep experience in category creation, marketing leadership, and go-to-market execution. Emily has already joined the Board of Directors at ThreatSpike, an Expedition portfolio company that delivers an all-in-one cybersecurity solution for mid-sized companies.
Will Sheldon, Partner at Expedition, said: “Emily’s role at Darktrace, building such a distinctive brand and marketing engine from startup roots in Cambridge UK into a global category leader is truly remarkable. Her clarity of thinking, brand instinct, and hard-won lessons from the frontlines of enterprise software will be invaluable to our founders. We’re proud to have her join the Expedition team.”
Emily Orton added: “I am always excited to help bring meaningful technology to market by combining narrative with execution and building a winning team culture. Expedition’s founders are doing just that – and I’m delighted to support them as they scale their companies and shape their markets.”
About Expedition Growth Capital
Expedition is a software specialist growth equity firm, with offices in London and Boston. Expedition partners with ambitious, rapidly growing software companies that have achieved significant traction with little or no external funding. The firm brings capital for growth initiatives and shareholder liquidity, highly relevant operational expertise, and a trusted track record of respectfully partnering with founders on their path to category leadership. For more information, please see Expedition.capital or follow Expedition on LinkedIn.