With a $116 million Series D round, Hed Kovetz said his cybersecurity company has all the money it needs to get ready to go public.
Silverfort’s product is an identity-protection platform that allows a company to use one protection platform across all applications. Kovetz, CEO and cofounder of Silverfort, has worked in cybersecurity since he was 18, first for the government and then at the corporate level.
While the plan is to eventually IPO, that’s still several years away, he said. In the interim, Silverfort wants to begin the process of acquiring other firms, and become the market leader for identity security.
“Someone will become the leader of identity security. I think we are probably in the best position to become that leader. Everything I am doing now is aimed in that direction,” Kovetz said.
With the funding and through acquisitions, Silverfort will add additional identity-protection capacity to its platform, he said. It hasn’t yet made any acquisitions and Kovetz did not say what companies it is seeking out.
The prevalence of cybersecurity attacks has only increased, he said, because employees have more and more corporate identities – through regular corporate logins and cloud logins. Kovetz said Silverfort is the first identity solution that can protect across all types of corporate identities by connecting different platforms and adding an extra layer that is not noticeable to users unless it detects a threat. It’s meant to eliminate blind spots.
It prevents the need to build individual protections into each individual account, he said.
Multiple Fortune 25 companies are customers, according to Kovetz. Silverfort has had over 100% revenue growth for the past several years, he said, adding over 100 customers per quarter.
This new round of funding means Silverfort “won't have to worry about funding again,” said Kovetz.
Over the next few years, Silverfort plans to add to its headcount of 300. Kovetz said the plan is to bring on 150 employees each year, with many reporting to the Boston headquarters. The company also has headquarters in Tel Aviv.
With its growth, Kovetz said the company has tried to be responsible, to avoid bringing on too many workers and then having to make cuts. Now, while he sees the rest of the market acting conservatively, it gives Silverfort an opportunity to grow.
“We don’t want to make those same mistakes,” he said.
The Series D round was led by Brighton Park Capital, with participation from existing investors including Acrew Capital, Greenfield Partners, Citi Ventures, General Motors Ventures, Maor Investments, Vintage Investment Partners and Singtel Innov8.
Silverfort completed its Series A round in 2018 at $11.5 million. The company was founded in 2016 by Kovetz and Yaron Kassner.
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