D.C.-based cybersecurity firm Adlumin has closed a $70 million Series B funding round to accelerate its growth and meet soaring demand for its services from small and middle-market organizations that often can't afford to build out internal cybersecurity teams.
The 7-year-old company just completed a $45 million raise that was an extension of a $25 million series B launched in 2021 and led by SYN Ventures in West Palm Beach, Florida. D.C-based Washington Harbour Partners, First In Ventures of Middletown, Delaware, and BankTech Ventures in Sandy, Utah, also participated in the round.
Adlumin has grown rapidly in recent years as companies of all sizes have looked to build their cybersecurity defenses to protect data from increasingly sophisticated threats. Since 2021, its customer base has grown from roughly 100 to about 700 and the company has roughly tripled its annual revenue to what founder and CEO Robert Johnston says is now in the "many tens of millions." It's one of 31 companies in the area recently named to Inc. magazine's annual ranking of the nation's 5000 fastest-growing companies.
Adlumin primarily serves small and midsize firms, enhancing their existing security infrastructure with its additional services designed to manage, detect and respond to cybersecurity threats. Roughly 73% of small businesses have reported a cybersecurity incident in the past 12 months, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center Business Impact Report, but many do not have the resources to strengthen their defenses on their own.
“Adlumin gives under-resourced, small to medium businesses, access to a sophisticated cyber defense capability,” Johnston said. “In many cases, we're their entire outsourced security."
Adlumin intends to use much of the proceeds to beef up its staff. The company, which had just 25 employees in early 2022, now has between 150 and 160 and expects to add dozens more over the next 12 to 24 months, Johnston said.
About 50 of its employees are in Greater Washington and Johnston said he expects to continue adding staff here because the region is home to a wealth of cybersecurity talent.
“I love the defense contractors, but there's a lot of bureaucracy there," he said. “So, you can take these folks that are just top notch and bring them into startup company like ourselves, that's got a big vision and wants to do great things."
