Funding for hacker-powered intelligence platform

The new investment included participation from current Synack investors, including GGV Capital, GV (formerly Google Ventures) and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and will be used to further develop the Synack Platform, scale adoption across the U.S. and Europe, enter Asia Pacific (APAC), and continue to recruit and invest in the most skilled hackers in the world. Microsoft Ventures will take a seat on Synack’s board. Additionally, Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint and security industry veteran, will be joining Synack’s Board of Directors to support the company through this phase of high growth.

With the rise of cyber attacks and shortage of security talent, Synack plays a critical role in protecting the world’s high-stakes enterprises and government entities. Leveraging a global crowdsourced network of highly vetted ethical hackers, Synack’s platform delivers an offensive approach to defense for organizations. 

“The best defense is a good offense. Businesses can only stay one step ahead of the adversary by beating them at their own game,” said Jay Kaplan, CEO and co-founder of Synack. “Bringing Microsoft Ventures, HPE and Singtel Innov8 on board highlights their ongoing investment in security for their products and customers. We have a shared vision for the future of cybersecurity and see a huge opportunity for alignment in platform development and scaling channels to market.”

Today’s most competitive organizations know exactly how critical it is to have high quality security at the core of every technology and business. Having these tech industry giants invest in Synack’s innovative platform is another commitment to helping organizations around the world determine how exploitable they are from a cyberattack.

In just four years, Synack has onboarded some of the largest Fortune 500 companies and various branches and agencies of the U.S. Government. This mainstream adoption of Synack’s model has resulted in a greater than 300 percent increase in year-over-year bookings over the last four quarters, in Financial Services, Retail and Government. Building on its momentum, the company’s announced funding and partnership with Microsoft Ventures, HPE and Singtel Innov8 will:

?     Keep cybersecurity at the forefront: Microsoft and HPE are two of the most forward-thinking organizations when it comes to cybersecurity, understanding why security must be baked into a company’s DNA from the start:

?     “Traditional security testing presents many challenges that Synack tackles head-on with an innovative, crowd-focused approach,” said Nagraj Kashyap, corporate vice president at Microsoft Ventures. “Based on their already strong market traction and history of working with Fortune 500 enterprise customers, we look forward to seeing what Synack accomplishes next.”

?     “We are excited to invest in Synack,” said Vishal Lall, SVP, Strategy and Ventures, HPE. “Synack brings an exciting new crowdsourced approach to penetration testing and together we will help solve our customers’ pressing cybersecurity challenges.”

?     Drive European growth and support expansion into APAC: As the security talent gap in Europe continues to widen, and GDPR deadlines are looming, Synack has experienced organic demand from large enterprises and governments. Today, Synack Europe includes a network of specialized hackers and a growing number of customers in the region. Additionally, Synack will begin exploring opportunities and entering a new market, APAC, which has been clamoring for new cybersecurity innovation.

?     Proven leadership to guide high-growth: As Synack continues to rapidly expand into new industries and markets, the company is adding two industry veterans to help guide the company’s next phase of high growth. In addition to a representative from Microsoft Ventures, Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint Security and security veteran, has deep experience growing and scaling security companies and will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Synack.

Synack’s global network of security researchers, supported by groundbreaking proprietary technology, uncover critical security vulnerabilities left undetected by traditional security solutions. Synack delivers a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 95 percent, manages all triage and operations, and provides an analytical view of the whole environment for the customer. In Synack’s most recent Hack the Pentagon program, over 2,500 hours were dedicated to exploiting sensitive Department of Defense (DoD) assets. The first critical vulnerability, discovered in under four hours, was found in a widely-deployed sensitive file transfer mechanism. It was then confirmed, triaged, and accepted by DoD within 24 hours.

For Synack Co-Founders CEO Jay Kaplan and CTO Mark Kuhr, former NSA operators working to combat terrorism in some of the highest stakes intelligence operations, their vision was to build a modern cybersecurity platform combining security intelligence vetted by the most skilled and trusted researchers to help organizations understand and address their security risks. It was during that time they aspired to work with the best technology companies and minds in venture capital, and today’s investment further makes this goal a reality.