Howard County’s RackTop Systems raises $15M to expand its data storage and security product

Fulton, Md.-based RackTop Systems raised $15 million in venture funding as it seeks to continue expanding the number of enterprise clients using its platform that combines data storage and cybersecurity, said CEO Eric Bednash.

The funding comes from a collection of investors from the Baltimore and D.C. area. The Series A round was led by Northern Virginia’s Razor’s Edge Ventures and Grotech Ventures with participation from Maryland Venture Fund, Blu Venture Investors and Gula Tech Adventures, the Ellicott City-based venture fund of Tenable Network Security cofounders Ron and Cyndi Gula.

Founded by veterans of the U.S. intelligence community in 2010, the company’s platform, called BrickStor, is designed to offer a single product where enterprise customers can store and manage large amounts of unstructured data, secure it from cyber threats and comply with regulations. Typically, said Bednash, security technology would have to be added to a data storage platform.

Bednash said systems that store data are often thought of as offering security behind a network connection. But like many technology areas, it’s at increasing risk of attacks, and now involves regulations that require specific compliance measures. RackTop offers data security and encryption functions, as well as tools to help stay compliant with regulations as part of its workflow.

Initially bootstrapped, the team built up a base working with the federal government and then expanded to the commercial sector. Now it works with clients in both sectors. While Bednash said RackTop’s technology can apply to a variety of industries, RackTop has made particular inroads on the commercial side with life sciences and healthcare organizations dealing with large volumes of patient data, as well as advertising, media and entertainment companies who store video footage, visual effects and more. It also has clients in financial services.

The trajectory recalls a panel we moderated in 2017, where Maryland cybersecurity leaders talked about the big opportunity they saw when it came to government-facing companies with intelligence community talent developing products and expanding into working with private enterprise. In RackTop’s case, Bednash now believes it’s the right time for the product in the market, as 2018 “was a very strong year for the company,” he said.

“From a performance perspective things are definitely trending in the right direction,” Bednash said.

The capital will allow the company to accelerate those efforts: “We’re building on a foundation that we’ve already established, and putting even more fuel to the fire when it comes to expanding sales efforts,” he said.

The company will also look to keep expanding the product. With that growth will come hiring, and the company will look to add to its team of nearly 40 people, both in Fulton and regional sales sites.