Wichita-based Koch Industries Inc. has invested in a cybersecurity firm it says will be an important partner in helping keep its data safe.
According to a report from the Baltimore Business Journal, the Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) division at Koch co-led a $110 million Series C funding round into Maryland-based Dragos Inc.
The round was co-led by National Grid Partners, the venture investment arm of London-based electricity and gas utility company National Grid plc. Other investors in the round included Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NASDAQ: HPE) as well as existing investors including Allegis Cyber, Canaan Partners, DataTribe, Energy Impact Partners and Schweitzer Engineering Labs.
“Koch Industries has more than 500 global manufacturing facilities, and the need for protection from cybersecurity threats grows each day,” said Byron Knight, managing director at KDT. “As we continue to transform and modernize operations, Dragos will be a key partner in helping protect these assets to ensure we can continue providing products and services our customers prefer.”
Knight will join the Dragos board as part of the investment, as will Andre Turenne, director of National Grid Partners.
Dragos CEO Robert M. Lee told the BBJ that the new funding will largely go to fueling international sales after the company used previous investment rounds largely for research and development.
The company specializes in providing threat detection and response services for customers operating in industries such as electric, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining and transportation.
The Dragos deal continues investment rounds worth hundreds of millions of dollars into new technologies that have been led by KDT since its founding in 2017.
The Chase Koch-led division has invested in companies with specialties ranging from the mobile payment market and advanced ultrasound technologies to 3D metal printing and cloud computing services.
