US-based cybersecurity company Shape Security closed a $40m series D round yesterday following a strategic investment by Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, the venture arm of enterprise IT company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
GV, the corporate venturing unit of conglomerate Alphabet, previously contributed to a $25m first close in January 2016. The round’s backers also include EDBI, the strategic investment division of Singapore’s statutory board Economic Development Board.
Baseline Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), Norwest Venture Partners, Venrock, Northern Light Ventures, Epic Ventures, Tomorrow Ventures and Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet, also took part in the round that put Shape’s total funding at $106m.
Shape Security’s technology prevents automated web and mobile app attacks. The company targets business users across the financial services, airline, retail and government sectors.
The company hopes to use EDBI’s expertise to expand across the Asia Pacific region. Hewlett Packard Pathfinder’s contribution comes alongside a sales partnership that will let Shape sell its products to HPE’s clients.
In 2012, GV, then known as Google Ventures, took part in a $5.8m series A round with KPCB, Tomorrow, Baseline and assorted angel investors. Google Ventures then returned for a $20m series B round in 2013 and $40m series C a year later.
Lak Ananth, managing director of Hewlett Packard Pathfinder, said: “Shape’s innovative technology has proven to offer highly effective defence against automated attacks from advanced cybercriminals.
“We are very excited to partner with Shape to bring HPE customers best-in-class application defense and help Shape accelerate its business to enterprise scale.”