Binary Defense Systems Inc. has raised $36 million to speed sales and marketing of its technology that uses "a proactive, hacker’s mindset" to guard computers against cyber attacks.
Invictus Growth Partners, the San Francisco private equity firm, made the investment in Binary Defense, which has been bootstrapped by its founders, David Kennedy and Mike Valentine, since 2014, the Stow, Ohio-based startup said in a statement.
Binary Defense also expects to use its first investment to broaden its partnerships and expand the machine-learning capabilities of its managed detection and response (MDR) technology, Managed Open XDR, the company said.
Organizations are under increasing pressure from global cyber threats, yet there is a shortage of security talent to protect them, Binary Defense said.
The Stow company plans to help solve this talent shortage by remotely delivering security functions that enable customers to detect, analyze, investigate and respond to cyber threats, it said.
The market for these managed detection and response services is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of more than $20% to reach $2.2 billion by 2025, according to technology consultancy Gartner.
By that year, more than half of organizations will be using these services, Gartner said in its 2021 Market Guide for Managed Detection and Response Services report.
"We are at a unique crossroads in security where the massive market opportunity is converging with Binary Defense's expertise in technology development and MDR service delivery," said Bob Meindl, CEO of Binary Defense, in the company's statement.
Binary Defense co-founder David Kennedy started the company in 2014 to "make the world a safer place," said Kennedy, who also is the company's "chief hacking officer."
"Over the past several years, we have experienced amazing growth, added experienced cyber leadership, and developed innovative capabilities to advance our defensive maturity," Kennedy said.
Kennedy also co-founded TrustedSec, the IT security consultancy that opened its new, 20,000-square-foot headquarters in Fairlawn, Ohio, earlier this year.
"Binary Defense offers a differentiated value proposition to protect... customers with a proactive, hacker's mindset," said John DeLoche, co-founder and managing partner of Invictus, in the Stow company's statement.
