Synack Raises $7.5 Million to Expand Crowdsourced Security Testing Platform

Synack, a startup that has built a platform for crowdsourced security testing, announced on Thursday that it has received $7.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). 

Founded in 2013 by Jay Kaplan and Mark Kuhr, Menlo Park, California-based Synack is looking to disrupt the traditional model of vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.

Synack’s platform provides a means for organizations to conduct “Crowdsourced Vulnerability Discovery” using its virtual private testing environment (VPTE), while also giving clients access to a network of security researchers from around the world.

Synack “formalizes existing models” for companies that offer bug bounty programs and gives customers a turnkey solution to manage all parts of a vulnerability testing and rewards program. Synack says that its platform enables organizations to launch a full vulnerability assessment in just a few hours, giving them the ability to collect quick feedback, and decrease time to market and patch critical vulnerabilities.

This latest round of funding follows a $1.5 million seed round in August 2013 and brings the total amount of capital raised by the company to over $9 million.  While KPCB led the round, it also included new money from Google Ventures and existing investors Greylock Partners, Allegis Capital, and Derek Smith, the CEO of Shape Security.

The funds will be used to continue to recruit and certify a diverse set of cyber security experts and to further develop Synack’s security platform, the company said.

“Today’s volatile threat landscape coupled with the lack of resources needed to protect the enterprise presents a significant challenge for businesses who are unable to scale their security solutions to stay ahead of these threats,” said Ted Schlein, general partner at KPCB. “Synack is taking a different approach by utilizing advanced stealth technology combined with a trusted global community of security researchers that enterprises can rely on to protect them at mass scale.”

“With the vast amount of enterprises migrating to the cloud, there is an increased number of attack vectors that leave businesses exposed to cyber threats,” said Karim Faris, general partner at Google Ventures. “Synack is addressing the next-generation of security threats on a global scale by tapping security researchers as an added layer of protection that may be missed by traditional security defenses.”

“Since we launched nine months ago, we have recruited some of the most elite, respected, and well known security researchers in the world and worked with enterprise customers across financial services, healthcare, education, and retail,” Jay Kaplan, CEO of Synack. “The new funds will help us continue recruiting the best global security talent and further develop our technology platform.”