Former US National Security Agency (NSA) Director Keith Alexander’s IronNet Cybersecurity startup said on Monday that it had raised $32.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers also took part in the round.
Headquartered in Maryland, Alexander founded IronNet Cybersecurity in 2014 along with former top officials from the National Counterterrorism Center, Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and cyber experts from the commercial sector.
The company, which says it detects and mitigates anomalous activity with advanced behavioral models and analytics, said it would use the capital to continue developing its solution for the private sector.
“Criminal syndicates and nation states are inflicting tremendous harm on the private sector, costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually,” Alexander said in a press release. “Cybersecurity has become the most pressing threat to both the global private sector and our national security, and existing approaches and defenses to protect networks are falling short. IronNet is creating a new standard in cybersecurity by providing technology that gives our clients an unprecedented level of network visibility, data control, and security.”
The investors highlighted IronNet’s executives, citing their experience in combating cyber threats at the highest levels in government, with Don Dixon, Founder and Managing Director of Trident Capital Cyber stating: “With combined experience of more than 100 years in top posts at the NSA, U.S. Cyber Command, National Counterterrorism Center and Army Intelligence, IronNet will clearly be one of the leaders developing these solutions.”