SecurityScorecard Raises $180M Series E Funding

SecurityScorecard Secures $180 Million in Series E Funding

Since 2014, SecurityScorecard has been assisting organizations in evaluating the security risks associated with their vendors. This is achieved through a letter grade system, determined by analyzing multiple security dimensions.

Investment Details

The company recently announced a $180 million Series E funding round. This investment includes participation from new investors such as Silver Lake Waterman, T. Rowe Price, Kayne Anderson Rudnick and Fitch Venture.

Existing investors – Evolution Equity Partners, Accomplice, Riverwood Capital, Intel Capital, NGP Capital, AXA Venture Partners, GV (Google Ventures), and Boldstart Ventures – also contributed to this round.

To date, SecurityScorecard has raised a total of $290 million in funding.

The Genesis of SecurityScorecard

Aleksandr Yampolskiy, co-founder and CEO, emphasizes that the company’s core mission remains unchanged since its inception.

“When I served as CISO and CTO, a significant challenge was the lack of available metrics,” Yampolskiy explained. “I invested in numerous security solutions without clear insight into their effectiveness relative to industry standards or the security practices of my vendors.”

Yampolskiy and his co-founder, COO Sam Kassoumeh, drew a parallel to a bank evaluating a mortgage application without access to a credit score.

A Novel Approach to Security Assessment

The company addressed this gap by developing a system for scoring the security posture of organizations. This system assigns a letter grade, ranging from A to F, mirroring the grading system used in education.

Currently, SecurityScorecard maintains ratings for over 2 million companies globally. This provides organizations with a means to assess the security levels of their vendors.

The platform is capable of rating a new, previously unrated company within just five minutes. Furthermore, every organization can access its own scorecard free of charge, along with recommendations for improvement.

Predicting Security Breaches

Yampolskiy highlights the predictive capabilities of SecurityScorecard, citing the SolarWinds hack as a prime example.

“SecurityScorecard’s rating system indicated that SolarWinds’ security performance was consistently below the industry average, making a breach foreseeable,” he stated.

The industry average score is approximately 85, equivalent to a B grade. However, SolarWinds consistently scored around 70, or a C, signaling potential vulnerabilities.

Company Growth and Future Prospects

While Yampolskiy refrained from disclosing specific details regarding valuation, revenue, or growth rates, he revealed that the company serves 17,000 customers worldwide.

Notably, 7 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies globally are among SecurityScorecard’s clientele.

The company has reached a stage where a potential initial public offering (IPO) may be on the horizon. However, Yampolskiy did not provide a definitive timeline, suggesting it could occur within the next two years.