Immuta Inc., a recently minted unicorn in the Drive Capital LLC and Ohio Innovation Fund portfolios, has added a publicly traded Silicon Valley enterprise software maker as an investor.
ServiceNow Inc. (NYSE: NOW) joined in an extension of last year's $100 million Series E round, according to a news release; the amount of additional investment was not disclosed. NightDragon had led the round first closed in June, valuing the cybersecurity company at $1 billion.
Immuta tripled its annual recurring revenue in 2022 over the prior year for its data security platform, according to the release. The ARR measure annualizes sales based on monthly software subscriptions.
The company grew "on all fronts," including clients, partnerships, employees and geography, founder and CEO Matthew Carroll said in the release.
"It illustrates our tried and true product, innovative teams, enthusiastic customer support, and strong company culture," Carroll said. "This momentum, fueled by additional funding from ServiceNow, will help launch Immuta into our next phase of growth and meet the growing data security demands we’re seeing from our customers.”
Executives were not immediately available for comment.
Based in Boston with a growing Columbus office in the Short North, Immuta joins dozens of companies in the ServiceNow Ventures investing arm. According to the company's website, portfolio companies benefit from the company's expertise and gain access to its customer and partner network.
“Immuta has proven itself to be a clear leader in data security, and we see Immuta’s product innovation and platform as enablers for organizations to maximize the value of their cloud investments," Lou Fiorello, vice president and general manager of security products at ServiceNow, said in the release.
As more enterprises move their data to the cloud, Immuta’s technology adds an extra layer of security to ensure only authorized users have access. It works with the major cloud providers including Amazon, Google, Microsoft’s Azure and Snowflake – which also is an investor. ServiceNow is an enterprise workflow platform in the cloud.
Immuta succeeded in raising venture capital at an increased valuation last year as the trend was the reverse throughout venture-backed tech nationwide.
Likewise ServiceNow is beating against the tides: It was profitable in 2022, with $325 million on $7.2 billion revenue, according to its annual report. And executives projected the company will not lay off staff this year, reported sister publication Silicon Valley Business Journal. (Nearly 240 U.S. tech companies of all sizes, public and private, have cut nearly 130,000 jobs in January and February alone, according to online layoff trackers.)
"It definitely is positive to have someone of their caliber as a partner, and validating toward the company," Bill Baumel, Ohio Innovation Fund managing director, said in an interview.
Carroll, a military intelligence veteran, started the company in 2015 in Maryland before moving it to Boston. In 2017, the two Columbus VC firms and JobsOhio made a persuasive case to open a Columbus office for access to customers and talent.
Not only that, Carroll moved his family to Central Ohio while building up the office; it was not immediately clear if they had moved back east. Last year the company moved into 20,000 square feet at 886 N. High St. Overall the workforce grew by two-thirds last year, the release said.
