Aug 3 (Reuters) – Cybersecurity company Horizon3 said on Monday it has raised $250 million in its latest funding round, more than tripling its valuation to over $2 billion in just about a year.
The round comes amid growing demand for cybersecurity tools as hackers increasingly tap AI technology to exploit software vulnerabilities and launch more sophisticated attacks.
• Investment firms NightDragon and NEA co-led the round, with new investors including Acrew Capital, Blue Cloud Ventures and Demeter Group.
• Returning investors included Craft Ventures, Prosperity7 Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Ridge Ventures and SignalFire. Horizon3 had been valued at $650 million in its Series D round in June last year.
• Horizon3’s NodeZero platform autonomously tests production environments for exploitable attack paths, provides remediation guidance and verifies fixes, the company said.
• Horizon3 will use the proceeds from the latest fundraise to expand sales, marketing and channel operations, enter Singapore and Australia, deepen its presence in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and accelerate product development.
• The company said it plans to build a continuous learning loop between AI systems that simulate attacks and AI tools that defend against them, including automated defensive agents that can fix issues identified by NodeZero penetration tests, which simulate real-world hacking attempts.
• Horizon3 has gathered data from 310,000 tests safely conducted on live systems, CEO and co-founder Snehal Antani said.
• NightDragon’s founder and CEO Dave DeWalt and Managing Director Morgan Kyauk will join Horizon3’s board.
(Reporting by Prathik Jayaprakash in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
