Ellicott City-based Huntress raises $60M Series C

Since its inception, Huntress has collaborated with over 4,000 partners, serving nearly 100,000 customers and established itself as a leading force in the cybersecurity industry by protecting more than 2 million endpoints.

The Ellicott City, Maryland-based company, which specializes in small- and mid-size businesses’ (SMBs) cyber needs, on Wednesday celebrated two other benchmarks: the close of its year-high $60 million Series C and recognition by the Nasdaq. CEO and cofounder Kyle Hanslovan tweeted about both from midtown Manhattan on Wednesday: 

So honored to be recognized by @Nasdaq. Here’s to Rewriting Tomorrow and @HuntressLabs is How!

Massive thank you @SapphireVC, JMI Equity, @forgepointcap, @gula_tech, @Blu_Venture & SaaS Venture Capital for believing every step of the way! #startups pic.twitter.com/wZhexpLwky

— Kyle Hanslovan (@KyleHanslovan) May 16, 2023

This $60 million Series C, which the Baltimore Business Journal described as “the largest round in Greater Baltimore so far this year,” was spearheaded by Sapphire Ventures, which was accompanied by existing investors Forgepoint Capital and JMI Equity. Sapphire Ventures Partner Casber Wang will join Huntress’ board of directors, while Operating Partner Mahau Ma will assume the role of board observer. This infusion of capital will enable Huntress to strengthen its Managed Security Platform, allowing underserved SMBs to regain control over their cybersecurity through what an announcement called an “increasingly complex” threat landscape.

Huntress’ overarching mission is to ensure that businesses of all sizes can operate free from the looming specter of cybersecurity threats. Hanslovan qualified this need in an announcement.

“There are 32 million SMBs in the United States alone,” he said. “I’m inspired by the passion our investors share for protecting these companies. With Sapphire Ventures, Forgepoint and JMI by our side, I have unwavering confidence that we can make a tangible difference.”

This substantial investment reflects the confidence in Huntress and its dedication to equipping SMBs with essential tools and expertise to effectively address cybersecurity risks. That confidence was previously reflected in the $40 million it raised back in 2021, as well as its involvement in the Kaseya ransomware attack response. 

Hanslovan told the Baltimore Business Journal that this latest raise will support service expansion to both larger clients with close to $2,000 employees and international ones, particularly in Anglophone countries like the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. 

“We have this awesome cadre of experts but they’re not able to write in Spanish,” he told the business news outlet. “We’d love to go after Latin America, and we think that our product is a good fit for both Latin America and India, but we don’t quite have that regionalization there. We’re crawling before we walk.”