Maryland-based IronNet Cybersecurity raises $78M Series B

IronNet Cybersecurity, a Fulton, Md.-based company founded by former National Security Agency director Keith Alexander, raised $78 million in Series B funding, as it looks to expand its platform into energy and finance.
The round was led by C5 Capital, with existing Silicon Valley–based investors ForgePoint Capital and Kleiner Perkins also participating.
News of the round was first reported by Reuters, and the company also publicly talked about threat-sharing technology called IronDome for the first time. The platform is designed to help companies share information about threats, attacks and analysis. While the 150-employee company also makes a platform that alerts companies about imminent cyber threats that’s a common product for such companies, the information-sharing platform addresses a need often voiced by policymakers.
“If our nation is under attack by another nation, we need to be able to share information in time to be able to prevent it,” Alexander told Reuters.

.@c5capital announces investment in @IronNetCyber. IronNet's helping defend the US power grid against #cyeber attacks. Congrats team! https://t.co/dxtHfbPlKQ

— C5 Accelerate (@C5Accelerate) May 3, 2018

One area of focus is critical infrastructure, which is a focus of increasing attention from cyber experts as capabilities of other countries get more magnified. IronNet disclosed that six energy providers are currently using the platform, but declined to name them. Like many cyber companies, IronNet is also looking to work with healthcare and financial companies that face threats due to the sensitive data they possess.
Alexander, who is CEO, founded the company after retiring from the NSA in 2013, with former National Counterterrorism Director Matt Olsen, former U.S. Cyber Command Director of Exercise and Training George Lamont and NSA Science Advisor James Heath.