Cybereason Lands $100M In Series D Funding, Plans Investments In 'Aggressive Go-To-Market' Push

With $100 million in new Series D funding in hand, Cybereason said it will now look to be more aggressive in its go-to-market push, including through partners.

Cybereason announced the new round of funding by previous investor and customer SoftBank Group Corp. on Wednesday. The latest round brings the Boston, Mass.-based company's total funding raised to $189 million.

Cybereason is an endpoint detection and response company that was co-founded by former Unit 8200 members, Israel's equivalent to the NSA. The company's solution looks to bring an offensive mindset to security, actively hunting for threats in an environment using machine learning and artificial intelligence and helping provide tools, such as visibility and forensics, when a threat is identified.

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In an interview with CRN, CEO Lior Div said the new round of funding would allow Cybereason to step up its go to market strategy in a big way.

"It's a huge vote of trust from someone that knows the ins and outs of the company. We weren't in a position that we needed the money, but we decided together that we want to be more aggressive in our go to market," Div said.

Div said much of that go to market push will go through partners. Cybereason launched its first partner program last week and announced the appointment of Vice President of Channels Gregg Henebry.

"We believe part of our go to market is to be very aggressive with the channel and the partners in our business model," Div said. Div said Cybereason will also invest in expanding its go-to-market push globally, with focus on EMEA and APAC.

Ethan Simmons, managing partner of Pinnacle Technology Partners, said the new round of funding will help Cybereason stand out and prove its staying power in a crowded market for security solutions. He said he expects it will also allow the company to invest in R&D to further accelerate its product roadmap.

"Our goal is to find someone who is committed to their channel strategy, has a good solution, and is going to be around for a while," Simmons said. "This funding helps us have a high confidence that we're comfortable talking to our customers about."

As a partner, Simmons said he has been glad to see Cybereason's growing push through the channel. He expects the new round of funding will further fuel that growth, with more financing for market and channel development funds.

"For us as a channel partner, we're hearing things we like to hear as a partner. They're building out their sales team, but driving that out with the channel in mind," Simmons said. "We're looking to make an impact in the market with them."

Cybereason has been on a strong growth trajectory since it was founded in 2012, with more the 300 employees globally and more than 500 percent growth in revenue last year. Div said the company's growth had been driven by a recognition that current defensive security solutions aren't evolving to meet today's security challenges. He said Cybereason's offensive approach allows it to be more agile and evolve with emerging threats.

"The old method simply isn't working," Div said. "We are the only one that moves from the endpoint detection and response to enterprise detection and response, meaning not just looking at each and every one of the endpoints but collecting information, analyzing it in real-time, and giving you an answer to what is happening in your enterprise as a whole."

Div said Cybereason's long-term vision is to "dominate the cybersecurity market." He said the company would apply the new round of funding to develop its solution and go-to-market strategy. Div said those moves would prepare Cybereason for the long term, whether that means an IPO or not.

"I am not focusing on this right now, but I am focusing on building the company in the most aggressive way we can," Div said. "Then, we will see what the future will bring."