US-based cloud computing security platform developer Lacework has closed a $42m funding round that included Liberty Global Ventures, the corporate venturing vehicle for mass media group Liberty Global.
The corporate was joined in the round by venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures and it boosted the company’s overall funding to approximately $75m in total, though a regulatory filing suggests Lacework has officially only raised $7m of the $42m figure.
Founded in 2015, Lacework has developed a cybersecurity product that exploits machine learning to catch potential threats to a client’s operations on cloud computing platforms.
The product aims to safeguard increasingly prevalent “DevOps” practices where enterprises look to compress development lead times by harmonising software engineering with IT network management, often by employing cloud computing functionality.
The company’s technology keeps track of all active user identities and can restrict the cloud’s admittance to vulnerable network ports on a customer’s on-premises IT system. It displays information on a central dashboard accessed through Lacework’s online portal.
The capital will support product innovation. Lacework has appointed Andy Byron, formerly of cybersecurity software producer Cybereason, as president and has added Sutter Hill partner Mike Speiser and John McMahon, an experienced cloud industry executive, to its board of directors.
Sutter Hill led the company’s $24m series B round in August 2018, investing alongside Liberty Global Ventures, Spike Ventures, Webb Investment Network and AME Cloud Ventures. Details of its earlier funding have not been revealed but Lacework said the round had increased its total funding to $32.7m.
Ankur Prakash, partner at Liberty Global Ventures, said “We believe cloud infrastructure is a fundamental part of the digital revolution – and so securing it is very critical. Lacework has the best cloud security product and also a world-class team to deliver on this promise.”