Cylance Lands $42 Million In Series C Funding For Next-Gen Endpoint Security Technology

Next-generation endpoint security startup Cylance has landed $42 million in Series C funding, an influx of capital that CEO Stuart McClure said would be put toward marketing and building out the company's channel program.

Based in Irvine, Calif., Cylance offers a solution that does away with the signature-based technology used by traditional endpoint security vendors and uses mathematics and algorithms to pick out suspect behavior.

That technology has led to incredible growth for the startup, which saw more than 400 percent year-over-year growth. That growth number discounts multimillion-dollar deals, McClure said, which would put the company's year-over-year growth in excess of 4,000 percent. McClure said the company is seeing demand across the board, selling to 20 verticals last quarter.

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The latest round of funding, led by DFJ Growth, validates that growth, McClure said. KKR, Dell Ventures, CapitalOne Ventures and TenEleven Ventures also participated in the Series C funding round.

"[This funding] really is an indication of our growth right now," McClure said. "We're using all of this to accelerate the growth to a hyper-growth level. It really is all about now putting gas in the tank."

McClure said Cylance will use the funding to double or triple down on sales and marketing initiatives, including new campaigns, advertising and branding initiatives to spread brand awareness. The company will also invest in expanding globally and evaluating new sales channels.

"We want to make sure that what we're doing stays on the forefront of our buyers' minds, and really show what we're able to do and accomplish," McClure said. "The technology is at the core of it all, and we're just trying to leverage what we're trying to prove out in sales and marketing, and spin that up and triple down on it," he continued.

Cylance will also be using the new funding to grow its channel program, which primarily targets MSPs today. That includes adding account managers, engineers, sales support infrastructure, marketing and more, he said.

"A big push we have in the coming year is expansion, development and driving growth for [the channel program]," McClure said. "The new injection of cash will allow us to take that market a little more robustly or maturely. ... Basically, we're just hitting the gas on the formula we've created because so far it is working."

McClure said the MSP market is valuable to the startup because it allows Cylance to sell into smaller customer environments. Without partners, he said, the technology is built for only 5,000 to 200,000 user environments.

Going forward, McClure said, the growth trajectory the company is on and its most recent round of funding will help prepare the company for options down the road, whether that is an IPO, an acquisition or a private company.

"I think if things track the way they're tracking, it really is going to be an interesting set of options over the next couple of years for us. I'm looking forward to building that," McClure said.

PUBLISHED JULY 28, 2015