Island Technology Inc., the developer of a secure enterprise browser of the same name, today announced it has raised $175 million in a late-stage funding.

The Series D round was led by new investor Coatue and existing investor Sequoia Capital. It doubles the company’s valuation from a year ago to $3 billion. To date, the startup has raised $487 million with a goal to provide enterprise businesses a higher security profile while still giving employees a familiar browsing experience.

To do this, Island builds on security directly into the browser protecting the last mile without the need for plugins or extra software on top of a customer-focused browser software that might cause information technology teams security headaches.

The browser has become the primary touchpoint for reaching the internet at large and it’s where almost all networked apps live. Employees get all of their communication done there from email, messaging, social media, calendar, updates and everything else. Even software-as-a-service apps in corporate environments that might have desktop clients also often provide web interfaces that could be used in Chrome, Firefox, Edge or other commercial browsers.

Island launched its Enterprise Browser in 2022 to address this problem by embedding all of its security models and requirements directly in the browser itself. It supports a multitude of security tools, including safe browsing, web filtering, web isolation, exploit prevention, smart network routing and zero-trust access. Administrators can also control last-mile access to data from internal web applications and critical software by limiting copy, paste, download, upload and screenshots that could expose or leak company data.

“Enterprises require advanced security and productivity features that consumer browsers were never built to deliver,” said Mike Fey, co-founder and chief executive of Island. “We knew this would address critical pain points, but we’ve been thrilled at how quickly customers have adopted Island at scale – from major hotel chains and leading banks to national retailers and smaller enterprises.”

According to a recent Gartner report, by 2025 enterprise browsers or extensions will be featured in 25% of web security situations, up from 5% today. The same report predicted that by 2030, the enterprise browser will become the “core platform for delivering workforce productivity and security software” for managed and unmanaged devices for hybrid workforces. As enterprise companies look to increase security for remote workers, browsers will become a paramount element of that effort given its prominence and the broad presence of software that uses browsers. 

“We believe Island has built a product that meets the needs of CIOs, CISOs and end users all at the same time and has delivered tremendous ROI across multiple verticals,” said Coatue General Partner David Schneider. “Island’s continued customer traction demonstrates that the team has the potential to execute, grow and innovate at scale.”

Fey said the new funding will enable Island to invest more in research and development for the company’s enterprise browser, as well as work towards further customer success globally.

Image: Island