Industrial cybersecurity firm Claroty raises $140 million from investors
The new funds will be used to speed up sale of the company’s software, which protects factories and industrial plants from virtual attacks
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Cybersecurity firm Claroty, a maker of software to defend factories and industrial plants from cybersecurity attacks, said Thursday it has secured $140 million in a Series D funding round.
The round marks the “largest investment ever” made within the industrial cybersecurity sector, the company said, as the world grapples with a rise in cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure in recent months.
The new funds will be used to speed up the company’s expansion into new markets and industries, the company said in a statement.
The round is co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners’ Century II fund and 40 North, the investment arm of the privately held global industrial company Standard Industries. Additional strategic investors include South Korea’s LG, and I Squared Capital’s ISQ Global InfraTech Fund. All previous investors, including Team8 and long-time customers and partners such as Rockwell Automation, Siemens, and Schneider Electric, also participated. The round brings the company’s total funding to $235 million, the statement said.
“Our mission is to drive visibility, continuity, and resiliency in the industrial economy, by delivering the most comprehensive solutions that secure all connected devices within the four walls of an industrial site, including all operational technology, Internet of Things, and industrial IoT assets,” said Yaniv Vardi, CEO of Claroty. The new funding will give the firm the “financial runway” to implement its product strategy, he said.
Since 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic required the digitalization of the home and the office, there has been a rise in cybersecurity attacks against organizations, infrastructure and supply chains.
According to Cybersecurity Ventures, global ransomware damage costs are predicted to exceed $265 billion by 2031, up from $20 billion in 2021.
Claroty’s technology is already deployed at thousands of locations and facilities across the world. For example, the company has worked closely with Pfizer to secure its COVID-19 vaccine supply chain in its race to meet unprecedented global demand, the statement said.
The company, founded in 2014 by Amir Zilberstein, the chairman, Benny Porat, the chief technology officer and Galina Antova, the chief business development officer, said it expects a 133% growth in revenue in the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of last year.
The firm has employed 80 new workers this year in the US, EMEA and APAC regions and seeks to grow its headcount by nearly 50% by the end of the year, the statement said.
“We launched Bessemer’s growth fund to invest specifically in clear market leaders,” said David Cowan, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. “We are focused on helping the next generation of category-defining companies that have standout product-market fit, scalability, and a strong executive team. Since our first investment in Claroty in 2016, the company has continued to demonstrate that it has the best vision, team, and technology to address the unique challenges in the critical infrastructure security sector.”
