OpenDNS provides cloud-delivered network security and DNS services that block malware, botnets, phishing, and other Internet threats across devices and locations. Its core products include Umbrella, a global delivery mechanism for security, and Security Graph, an advanced predictive threat-intelligence platform that leverages machine learning and big-data analytics. Because of its network position, OpenDNS processes and learns from more than one million new Internet events every second and regularly discovers and blocks threats other vendors miss. The company reports 50 million daily active users and over 10,000 enterprise customers, and in recent years shifted from a consumer focus into enterprise offerings. OpenDNS said it will use a newly announced $35 million investment round to accelerate adoption of its cloud-delivered security services. The company was founded in 2005 and positions its technology as an always-on, low-friction alternative to traditional perimeter security. OpenDNS operates alternative domain name system (DNS) servers that businesses and consumers can use instead of their ISP’s DNS. Its service monitors IP addresses and flags or blocks domains classified as malicious, preventing users from accessing sketchy sites and alerting administrators. The company’s core product is focused on network-level protection delivered via DNS resolution. OpenDNS is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded in 2005. The company recently disclosed a $9.26 million financing in an SEC filing, reflecting ongoing external investor support. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the article. OpenDNS delivers a free, fast, ad-supported DNS resolution service with features such as typo correction, phishing protection, and optional content filtering alongside paid enterprise offerings. The company reports profitable operations and rapid user growth — earlier reporting showed over 1% of the world’s Internet users were using its service, and that number is higher now. OpenDNS has 32 employees and plans to grow headcount to about 40 by year end. CEO David Ulevitch said the business did not strictly need more venture capital but took an opportunistic financing to accelerate hiring and product development. The company continues to grow quickly and aims to use the additional funds to expand its team and accelerate product work. Product focus remains DNS resolution and related security and filtering features for consumers and enterprises. OpenDNS provides a consumer and organizational DNS service that routes around legacy ISP infrastructure to avoid outages and enables users to block categories like porn and phishing. The company launched in 2006 and is based in San Francisco. It has grown its DNS resolution volume from about 7 billion queries per day a year ago to as many as 15 billion daily today. OpenDNS monetized unresolved-URL search pages, generating as much as $20,000 per day at one point. The company has 24 employees and reports being profitable for more than 18 months. Management changed in late 2008 when founding CEO David Ulevitch stepped down to CTO and Nand Mulchandani serves as CEO; the firm expects to announce a second round of financing from recent investors shortly. OpenDNS redirects users' DNS queries through its nameservers to provide faster name resolution and an aggregated phishing filter. It maintains a large cache and strategically placed servers to speed page loads and claims to handle misspelled URLs. The core security feature is a phishing list aggregated from multiple sources that blocks access to malicious sites when routed through OpenDNS. The company plans to offer additional services on top of its enhanced DNS service and allows users to disable phishing blocks and spelling correction. Its stated revenue model is advertising on search pages served when users enter misspellings or unrecognizable URLs. OpenDNS is based in San Francisco, led by CEO David Ulevitch and John Roberts, and has drawn criticism over centralizing DNS control, susceptibility to gaming, and the realism of its speed claims.

Total raised

$49M

Funding rounds

5

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

May 2014