JupiterOne raises $70M at a $1B+ valuation to help track ...

Today a company called JupiterOne that's built a platform that aims to do just this is announcing $70 million in funding at a valuation it ... Oneoftheby-productsoftoday’sITenvironments—whichcaninvolvemultiplecloudsanddatawarehouses,on-premiseservers,thousandsorevenmillionsofconnecteddevicesandusers,amultitudeofappsandmore—isthatthissizeandcomplexityisaminefieldwhenitcomestosecurity.Malicioushackershavealotofpotentialpointsofentrytoexploit,sotheaimforsecurityspecialistsistohaveacompletepictureofhowthingsarelookingacrossthewholeofthenetwork—regardlessofhowfragmentedthoseoperationsmightactuallybe. TodayacompanycalledJupiterOnethat’sbuiltaplatformthataimstodojustthisisannouncing$70millioninfundingatavaluationitsaysisover$1billion—asignnotjustofitsownsuccessbutalsooftheopportunityinvestorsseeforgrowth. TribeCapitalisleadingtheround,withparticipationfromanumberofothers,includingnewbackersIntelCapitalandAlphaSquareGroup,andexistinginvestorsSapphire,BainCapitalVentures,CiscoInvestmentsandSplunkVentures.ItbringsthetotalraisedbyJupiterOne—basedoutofMorrisville,NorthCarolina—to$119million. You’llnoticeanumberoftechcompaniesinthatlist.PartofJupiterOne’sspecialsauceishowitintegratesdataeffectivelyfromthemanytoolsandvendorsanorganizationmightworkwith,andsoallofthesearestrategic.Caseinpoint:JustyesterdaythecompanyannouncedadeepintegrationwithSplunktoprovidebetterdatavisibilityforSplunkusers.AnotherexampleofthatisarecentlaunchwithCiscoforanewproduct,CiscoSecureCloudInsightswithJupiterOne. “JupiterOnedirectlycomplementsourcloud-firstportfolioandourSplunkVenturesinvestment,coupledwithanewintegrationpartnership,willmakeiteasierfororganizationstoanalyzesecurityinsights,”saidVaroonBhagat,vicepresidentofcorporatedevelopmentforSplunkVentures,inastatement.“SplunkandJupiterOneshareacommitmenttoofferingourcustomersdeepvisibilitytostayaheadofthethreatlandscape,theabilitytosafelyscale,andusedatatohelppowerdigitaltransformationopportunities.” ErkangZheng,JupiterOne’sfounderandchiefexecutive,launchedthecompanyinitiallyasaspinoutofLifeOmic,withZhenghimselfhavingalonghistoryofworkinginsecurityforanumberofmajorenterprises,includingFidelityandIBM.Histhesis,whichcontinuestotoday,isthatyoucannotconceiveof“assets”simplyasinfrastructure,butthatdataandreallyanythingandeverythingonthenetwork(orexistinginanywaytoconnecttoit)hastobeconsideredpartofthatbiggerpictureof“cyberassetattacksurfacemanagement”,asthebiggerspacethatJupiterOneisiniscalled. “JupiterOnewascreatedfrommyownpainpointsandmyowndigitaltransformationjourney,”hesaid.“Howdowetransformsecurityorganizationsintomorethanjustengineering?Thatiswhatdigitaltransformationisabout,helpingusedatatorunmoreefficiency,sothatforexampleremoteworkisnotsopainful,andsoon.Theonlywaytodothatistohavesomefundamentalunderstandingandvisibilityintotheentiredigitaloperation.Thosearethecyberassets.” ThatfirsthandexperienceiswhathelpedinformhimofthechallengesofthefragmentationoftheITenvironmentasitexisted,andthefactthatthiswouldonlybecomemorecomplexovertime(whichithas).CustomersnumberinthehundredsandincludethelikesofRobinhoodandHashiCorp,andwhileit’snotdisclosingmanyothercurrentnamesoranyothermetricstoday,othersthathavebeenmentionedinthepastincludeReddit,DatabricksandAuth0. “We’veseenatremendousamountofexponentialgrowthtogetthevaluationwegot,”Zhengtoldmeinaninterview.“Wearedefinitelyinyourtoptierintermsofcustomers,recurringrevenueandteamsize.” Whilethecompanywillcontinuetoinvestindevelopingmoretoolsandmoreintegrationstobuiltoutthepowerhouseofmanaging“assets”inthemostgeneralsensethatZhengdescribed,thatgivesthestartuptheopportunitytotakethatdataintonewareas. Oneoftheseistostartbeingabletodomorewiththatdataintelligenceandanalytics,itsoundslike. “Wefundamentallybelievethatifyouhavealltherightdataaggregatedintotherightplaceandasasinglesourceoftruth,thenyoucanfundamentallyaskanyquestionregardlessofusecase,”Zhengsaid.“It’slikeGoogle.” Secondofallisadeepermoveintoopensource. RightnowJupiterOne’scustomersareprimarilyinthelargerenterprisespace,butthereisanopportunityforthecompanytoworkmorecloselywithpotentiallysmallerormorecutting-edgeorganizationsthatarestillscaling,insomewayssimilartosomeofitsexistingcustomersthathavebeenwiththecompany“almostsincethebeginning,”Zhengsaid.“Thereisasizablepoolofcustomerswhoarestillearlystage.” Forthem,theyareofferingafreeversionofitstoolsaspartofitsmissionto“democratize”security,andalongsidethatitcontinuestodevelopanopensourcesetoftoolstohelpbuildoutitswidercommunity.Therearejustunder170OSreposoutthererightnow,Zhengtoldme.“It’sstillearlybutwewillcontinuetobuildoutthatcommunity,”hesaid. “JupiterOnesuperchargescybersecurityteamsbycentralizingdatafromalltheircyberassetsandshowingtherelationshipbetweenthematalltimes,”saidSriPangulur,partner,TribeCapital,inastatement.“Aggregatingtheassetsandmakingitpossibletoqueryisdifficult,butJupiterOnehassolvedthisproblemandisbecomingthecenterpieceofanycybersecurityprogram.Wecouldn’tbemoreexcitedtopartnerwithJupiterOneontheirjourneytohelpeverysecurityorganizationreachitsfullpotential.”