UPDATED 08:00 EDT / OCTOBER 22 2024

SECURITY

Socket secures $40M to strengthen open-source software security

Supply chain security startup Socket Inc. announced today that it has raised $40 million in new funding to fuel its mission to modernize security for open-source software and expand its team across engineering, product and design.

Founded in 2020, Socket offers a developer-first security platform that is designed to protect code from malicious or vulnerable dependencies. The platform proactively monitors open-source packages to detect potential threats such as malware, backdoors and typo-squatting.

The platform proactively blocks potential threats before they infiltrate systems, enabling real-time protection. Socket’s platform also uses artificial intelligence features, including dependency analysis, to assist with threat detection to ensure faster and more efficient identification of vulnerabilities.

Socket’s platform supports six programming languages, including Java and Ruby, which have recently been added, and handles critical use cases like license enforcement and reachability analysis. According to Socket, this makes the company’s service a comprehensive replacement for legacy tools.

“Our technology has made it possible for leading AI, B2B and finance companies to switch from legacy SCA solutions like Snyk to Socket,” said founder and Chief Executive Feross Aboukhadijeh. “We’re not just catching vulnerabilities — we’re detecting and blocking malicious threats in real time.”

The company claims an impressive customer list that includes Replit Inc., Figma Inc., Athropic PBC, Vercel Inc., Brave Software Inc., SymphonyAI Group LLC and Metamask.

“As generative AI drives unprecedented speed in software development, the risk of malicious or vulnerable packages slipping through is higher than ever,” said Replit founder and CEO Amjad Masad. “Socket provides preventative protection, catching threats before they can compromise organizations and enabling developers to innovate without sacrificing security.”

The Series B round was led by Abstract Ventures LP, with participation from Elad Gil, Andreessen Horowitz and a sizable list of angel investors. Angels participating in the round include Sierra Technologies Inc. co-founder and OpenAI Chairman Bret Taylor, Phil Venables from Google LLC, Scott Johnston from Docker Inc., Christina Cacioppo from Vanta Inc., Alphabet Inc. board member Ann Mather and Tobias Lütke from Shopify Inc.

Including the new funding, Socket has raised $65 million to date.

Image: Socket

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