BitSight, a firm specializing in cyber security ratings, raised $40 million in Series C financing to have a cumulative funding of $95 million so far, the company said Sept. 15.
The latest funding round was led by GGV Capital with participation also from previous investors Flybridge Capital Partners, Globespan Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, and Shaun McConnon. Other investors include the venture capital arms of three major telecommunication companies: Comcast Ventures [CMCSA], Liberty Global Ventures [LBTYA], and Singtel Innov8.
Under the terms of the funding, GGV Capital managing partner Glenn Solomon will join BitSight’s board of directors.
BitSight will use the new funding to support expansion and partnerships in new geographic markets, make strategic acquisitions, and accelerate product innovation, the company said.
The company’s premier product is the Security Rating Platform, which “generates objective, outside-in ratings on companies’ security performance,” BitSight said. It uses evidence of security outcomes from worldwide networks and applies algorithms to produce daily security ratings ranging from 290 to 900. Higher ratings here mean a lower risk. BitSight provides Security Ratings to over 450 companies.
The platform was first built to continuously analyze large amounts of external data on security issues and behaviors to help organizations manage third party risk, underwrite cyber insurance policies, benchmark performance, and assess aggregate risk.
“The extremely positive feedback we received from CISOs, security professionals and other industry insiders regarding BitSight’s market leading technology, growth, and customer adoption fueled our excitement to proactively lead this financing,” GGV’s Solomon said in a statement.
“We saw the huge market opportunity back in 2013 when we first invested in BitSight. Since that time, BitSight has further increased momentum, and this additional unsolicited, oversubscribed investment round will enable them to reinforce their leadership and market impact worldwide,” Venky Ganesan, managing director of Menlo Ventures and chair of the National Venture Capital Association board of directors, added.
Of the $95 million in total financing, BitSight has $60 million in the bank now. BitSight CEO Shaun McConnon highlighted the company intends to hire 100 more people to its staff over the next 15 months, focusing on engineering and sales.
“We will increase our brand, double our sales, and solidify BitSight as the global standard in security rating services. We have the people, the products, and the cash to accomplish these goals,” McConnon said.