VMRay closes $ 10 Million Series B Round

eCAPITAL NEWS
Digital+ Partners Leads New Funding Round in Growing Automated Malware Analysis & Detection Provider to Combat Latest Advanced Threats and Support Market Expansion.

VMRay, a provider of automated malware analysis and detection solutions, today announced that it has closed its series B round of funding in the amount of $10 million (€9 million) led by Digital+ Partners, one of the leading technology growth equity firms in Europe, and supplemented by the existing shareholder eCAPITAL, a German VC-stage investor with in-depth knowledge in cyber security. Together with the seed investment by High-Tech Gruenderfonds the total amount of funding raised by the company now amounts to €12 million. The company will use the new funding to expand its marketing program to reach new vertical markets, bolster its engineering team to enhance its platform capabilities, and better support its’ MSSP and VAR partners through an expanded channel program.

VMRay was founded by Dr. Carsten Willems and Dr. Ralf Hund in 2013, two early pioneers in automated malware analysis and detection, as a vehicle to transform their groundbreaking academic research into practical solutions for enterprise security teams. At the core of its flagship Analyzer platform is a sophisticated malware sandbox that is uniquely capable of rapidly identifying evasive malware threats that traditional dynamic analysis approaches, static analysis tools and signature-based security solutions often miss since they are unable to stop what they’ve never seen before or get detected by malware during analysis. As a result, VMRay Analyzer detects Zero-Day malware and advanced threats that can be missed by security solutions that rely primarily on those technologies.

“When we originally founded VMRay, our objective was simple: to provide comprehensive dynamic analysis in a way that cannot be detected by the latest and most complex malware strains. Many of the world’s largest enterprises and government agencies now rely on VMRay to provide the actionable threat intelligence they need to defend their network,” said Carsten Willems, co-founder and CEO for VMRay. “In Digital+ Partners we have found a true partner who will help us grow our market share over the long term, forge new customer and channel relationships, and help us scale into a dominant player in the threat analysis and detection market.”

While global spending on IT security continues to grow, the threat detection and incident response segment of the market remains one of the primary drivers as enterprise security teams seek new strategies for early threat detection. Since the introduction of VMRay Analyzer, its automated malware analysis platform in 2016, the company has steadily rolled out a complete suite of inter-connected threat detection solutions, including:

  • VMRay Detector: Delivers rapid, fully automated threat detection at scale, without the need for human interaction
  • VMRay Email Threat Defender: Enables organizations to fend off phishing and targeted email attacks using VMRay’s patented agentless threat detection technology
  • VMRay Web Threat Defender: Seamlessly integrates VMRay Analyzer technology into the web gateway, analyzing and detecting malicious content that would otherwise bypass web proxies and firewalls.

Through these new products, VMRay has successfully evolved from being a single-user console built for security researchers into a mature, integrated, and multi-layered enterprise threat analysis and detection suite.

“Our investment philosophy at Digital+ is focused on identifying and investing in best-in-class technology vanguards who are driving innovations across the B2B software landscape,” said Thomas Jetter, managing director and founding partner at Digital+ Partners. “With an exceptional management team already in place and a battle-tested platform that has demonstrated value to some of the largest and most sophisticated customers around the globe, VMRay is precisely the type of company we are eager to partner with and support.”

“The most effective security teams today are not reactively responding to new threats but rather arming their teams with the advanced tools they need to identify tactics, techniques, and indicators of compromise at the earliest phase of the threat lifecycle,” said Andy Pendergast, VP of Product for ThreatConnect. “This is precisely what VMRay’s platform enables us to do, giving our customers the critical visibility and intelligence they need to defend their network from tomorrow’s advanced threats.”

”By that VMRay addresses an enormous need in the market”, adds Willi Mannheims, managing partner at eCAPITAL. “With this growth rationale in place, we are participating again in this B round funding of the company.”

About VMRay
VMRay is focused on a single mission: to help enterprises protect themselves against the growing global malware threat. The company’s automated malware analysis and detection solutions help enterprises around the world minimize business risk, protect their valuable data and safeguard their brand. VMRay’s founders, Dr. Carsten Willems and Dr. Ralf Hund, were early pioneers in malware sandboxing, developing breakthrough technologies that continue to lead the industry. They founded VMRay to transform their research into practical solutions for making the online world a safer place. Learn more at www.vmray.com

About eCAPITAL
eCAPITAL is a venture capital firm that provides early to growth stage funding to technology companies in the fields of software & information technology, cybersecurity, industry 4.0, new materials and cleantech. Founded in 1999, eCAPITAL has a history of supporting entrepreneurs determined to build companies with lasting significance. Partnering with eCAPITAL means joining an international network of business leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists and potential partners. eCAPITAL is located in Germany and currently manages funds with over EUR 220 million under management.

Contact
VMRay GmbH
Charles Loeven
Tyler Borosavage
Universitätsstraße 142
44799 Bochum, Germany
Tel.: +49 234 973 55 40 0
Email: tborosavage(at)vmray.com
Internet: www.vmray.com

eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS AG
Sylvia Richter
Hafenweg 24
48155 Münster, Germany
Tel.: +49 251 70 37 67 0
eMail: info@ecapital.vc
http://www.ecapital.vc