Huntress Labs Inc., a fast-growing managed cybersecurity provider, today disclosed that it has raised $150 million at a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion.

Kleiner Perkins, Meritech Capital and Sapphire Ventures led the round. CRN reported that the raise, a Series D investment, is likely the last for Huntress before going public. The company is reportedly on track to end the year with more than $100 million in annual recurring revenue.

Founded in 2015, Huntress provides a managed cybersecurity platform for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform can spot vulnerabilities in a company’s technology environment, as well as attempts by hackers to exploit those vulnerabilities. When a cyberattack is detected, Huntress’ cybersecurity professionals investigate the incident and remediate it on behalf of the affected company.

“Everyone deserves the ability to protect themselves and their employees’ livelihoods,” said Huntress Chief Executive Officer Kyle Hanslovan (pictured, center, with co-founders Chris Bisnett and John Ferrell). “This is the ‘why’ that supercharges my team to work around the clock and democratize access to the tools and talent typically built for the enterprise.”

One of the tasks that Huntress’ platform promises to ease is mitigating ransomware attacks. It deploys small files, or canaries, throughout a company’s network that function as ransomware sensors. If hackers attempt to encrypt one of the files, the platform notifies Huntress’ cybersecurity professionals.

Some cyberattacks are carried out using not malware but rather the existing, legitimate applications used by a company’s employees. Huntress says that its platform can detect such breach attempts. It also spots vulnerabilities that might lead to cyberattacks in the future, such as open network ports that allow traffic from external websites to reach a company’s internal infrastructure.

Huntress provides its core threat detection and remediation features alongside a cybersecurity training tool. According to the company, the tool allows organizations to send simulated phishing emails to their employees. If a worker clicks on a link in one of the messages, Huntress’ platform displays educational content on how to spot phishing campaigns.

The company says that its revenue has grown by over 70% in each of the past two years thanks to strong demand. According to Huntress, customers are now using its software to protect nearly 3.5 million systems and user accounts.

To maintain its sales momentum, the company will spend a portion of its newly raised capital on expanding its go-to-market team. In parallel, Huntress plans to enhance its feature set and explore acquisition opportunities. It intends to buy companies with technology that eases cybersecurity tasks such as detecting infrastructure vulnerabilities.  

Photo: Huntress