CA Technologies Inc. has acquired application security firm Veracode Inc. for $614 million in cash.

Founded in 2006, Veracode offers cloud-based application intelligence and security verification services that it claims improve the security of internally developed, purchased or outsourced software applications and third-party components. The company’s platform uses static, dynamic and manual testing, eLearning capabilities and advanced application analytics to help identify and eradicate numerous vulnerabilities.

Veracode, which is reported to have 1,400 customers, including The Boeing Co. and Thomson Reuters, was said to be considering an initial public offering back in 2015. CA said the acquisition will establish the company as a leader in the Secure DevOps market through the automation and scaling of application security testing to develop and deploy applications faster with fewer defects.

“Software is at the heart of every company’s digital transformation. Therefore, it’s increasingly important for them to integrate security at the start of their development processes, so they can respond to market opportunities in a secure manner,” CA President and Chief Product Officer Ayman Sayed said in a statement. “This acquisition will unify CA’s Security and DevOps portfolios with a [software-as-a-service]-based platform that seamlessly integrates security into the software development process.”

Automated application security is a growing market given the attention raised by high-profile hacks in 2016. Research firm Gartner Inc. claims that 70 percent of enterprise DevOps initiatives will incorporate automated security vulnerability and configuration scanning by 2019, up from less than 10 percent in 2016. That could provide growth opportunities for those companies providing SaaS solutions in the space, and this is the growing market of which CA wants a slice.

Prior to acquisition, Veracode had raised $114.26 million over six rounds from investors such as 406 Ventures, Atlas Venture, Cross Creek Advisors, Founders Circle Capital, In-Q-Tel, Meritech Capital Partners, Polaris Partners, Rovi Corporation, StarVest Partners, Symantec, TELUS Ventures and Wellington Management.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018.

Image: Veracode