US-based cybersecurity software developer Menlo Security yesterday raised a $75m of series D round backed by financial services firm HSBC and payment processing firm American Express.
The round was led by unnamed clients advised by JP Morgan Asset Management, a division of financial services group JP Morgan Chase, and also featured spinout-focused investment firm Osage University Partners (OUP).
Engineering Capital, General Catalyst, Sutter Hill Ventures and unnamed, existing investors filled out the round. American Express participated through its corporate venturing subsidiary, American Express Ventures.
Menlo Security offers a cybersecurity software product that isolates all incoming web and e-mail traffic in the cloud, before streaming a malware-screened version to the user’s devices.
The product aims to improve on existing cybersecurity platforms which rely on classifying incoming data as either malicious or safe. It is marketed to enterprises and government agencies, in verticals including financial services, healthcare and entertainment.
The fresh capital will support the growth of Menlo’s sales team, to meet industry demand for its services. Jonathan Ross, portfolio and managing director of JP Morgan Asset Management, will join the board of directors.
Menlo Security’s platform grew out of a University of California, Berkeley cybersecurity spinout, Safely, which now appears to be defunct.
Safely’s concept extended the work of Dawn Song, professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, and Gautam Altekar, a former graduate student who is now Menlo’s chief architect.
Menlo Security emerged from stealth in 2015 with $25m of series B capital led by Sutter Hill. The round included OUP, General Catalyst and Engineering Capital. It had already received $10.5m in series A funding in 2014 from undisclosed investors.
American Express Ventures, JP Morgan Chase and HSBC later joined Ericsson Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms equipment supplier Ericsson, for Menlo’s $40m series C close in 2017, with support from OUP, Sutter Hill, General Catalyst and Engineering Capital.
– A version of this article first appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.