Threat Stack, a Cambridge startup that has created the first advanced security platform for the cloud, announced Tuesday it has raised $1.2 million in initial funding from Atlas Venture and .406 Ventures. The capital will be put toward launching Cloud Sight, the company's cloud server protection platform which is currently in private beta, later this year.
Though the startup is currently based in Boston, Threat Stack has some Southern roots. Started in late 2012, Threat Stack was originally part of the TechStars' 2013 Cloud Class, which took place in San Antonio, Texas. Once the accelerator program was over, founders Dustin Webber and Jen Andre moved to Washington, D.C.
Atlas Venture partner Chris Lynch was instrumental in moving the startup from Washington, D.C. to Boston. After meeting Webber and Andre through DataRobot CEO Jeremy Achin (who he has also invested in), Lynch had the Threat Stack team pitch him over the phone.
"I liked it and told them if they would move to Boston where I could help them, then I'd invest," Lynch told BostInno. "They agreed, so I gave them a term sheet on the spot. We moved them up to Boston, and were able to get .409 Venture to follow."
The team built the innovation powering the platform around EndPoint Behavioral Profiling (EBP), a technology that allows Cloud Sight to consistently and intelligently monitor cloud servers, and thus ward against and respond to threats to data in the cloud space. Customers, as a result, see significantly improved compliance due to the protection, incident detection and instant forensics offered on the platform.
"Threat Stack is bringing industrial strength security to the cloud; Dustin and Jen are true security thought leaders. Convincing them to move from D.C. to Boston is positive proof that Boston is the place to be if you want to build a great tech company," noted Lynch.
Prior to launching Threat Stack, Webber created Snorby, a popular front-end intrusion detection system used by security analysts world-over, and worked at cybersecurity company Mandiant. Andre also has a resume rich with experience, having held analyst positions in Symantec's managed security services division, which helps Fortune 500 companies protect against threats, as well as in Mandiant's research and development department.
In conjunction with the funding, the startup also welcomes a number of seasoned security industry vets to its leadership team. Richard Bejtlich, chief information security officer at Mandiant, and Chris Wysopal, CTO at Veracode, have joined Threat Stack’s board of advisors. The company also recently brought John Vigneant, the CEO of Tracelytics, onto the startup's board to assist with its commercial partnerships. According to Lynch, Threat Stack is currently working out of the Atlas Venture offices in Cambridge.
