McKinney-based security services delivery platform ContraForce has closed a $3.25 million seed funding round co-led by GALLOS Ventures and DataTribe.
The company said the funding enables ContraForce’s mission to automate security operations and expand the security services opportunity for managed service providers.
“ContraForce’s goal is to help service providers automate and simplify the delivery of scalable security services. This investment from GALLOS not only provides us with the capital to achieve that, but also brings in a partner who understands how to build and grow security businesses on a global scale,” ContraForce CEO and co-founder Stan Golubchik said in a statement.
The oversubscribed investment round, which included participation from angels and strategic partners, brings a total of $5.25 million in investment to ContraForce. It said it will use the funding to accelerate the release of new product features and invest in sales and marketing in preparation for a future Series A round.
Streamlining cybersecurity
Founded in 2021, ContraForce has developed a “groundbreaking” security service delivery platform that allows service providers to grow their monthly recurring revenue, improve their margins, and deliver better client outcomes. The company saw annual recurring revenue grow 400 percent over the past 12 months and said it has established a growing customer base and distribution partners around the world.
The ContraForce platform employs proprietary AI and automation that streamlines the time and security expertise service providers require to manage security incident and event management and endpoint detection and response tools including Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender, Splunk Enterprise Security, IBM QRadar SIEM, Crowdstrike Falcon XDR and SentinelOne Singularity XDR.
The company said it was recognized by Microsoft Intelligent Security Association as its 2024 Security ISV of the year. ContraForce also recently was honored as an SC Awards winner for Most Promising Early-Stage Startup and selected as a SINET16 Innovator.
The company said that by using the ContraForce platform, service providers can onboard clients within a few minutes and easily manage all their clients and security tools simultaneously in a single dashboard.
ContraForce said that a recent McKinsey and Co. report showed the massive opportunity in cybersecurity managed services, with a total available market of $400-500 billion and current solutions only penetrating 5-10% of the market.
The main obstacle to deeper penetration is the shortage of qualified cybersecurity personnel, the company said, underscoring the urgent need for automated solutions such as those offered by ContraForce.
ContraForce said it enables service providers to add a new line of business by allowing them to immediately launch managed detection and response and managed security operation center (SOC) services.
Tackling ‘one of the biggest problems in today’s market’
William Kilmer, general partner at GALLOS Ventures, said his firm sees great potential in ContraForce.
“GALLOS specializes in investing in and building great security companies. We’re continuously seeking solutions that address real security challenges, particularly in security operations. ContraForce tackles one of the biggest problems in today’s market by automating the majority of incident investigation and remediation workflows while keeping critical decisions in the hands of security analyst teams,” Kilmer said. “As a former CEO of a managed security services provider (MSSP), I see tremendous potential for ContraForce to scale the managed security services market in a highly efficient manner.”
ContraForce originally was founded with an investment from DataTribe, a Maryland-based cybersecurity foundry that has invested in successful cybersecurity startups, including Dragos, Blackcloak, and Strider Technologies.
“We think ContraForce is helping to protect the vulnerable small and mid-sized enterprise sector and are pleased with the progress they are seeing with managed service providers and MSSPs toward this. I’m looking forward to working with WIll Kilmer given his venture and operations experience in this space,” Maurice Boissiere, partner at DataTribe, said in a statement.
As part of the investment round, Kilmer has joined ContraForce’s board of directors.
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