Participated · Series D · Feb 2018

Vectra AI offers a cloud-based service that uses artificial intelligence to monitor both on-premise and cloud networks for intrusions, running threat detection and response at the network layer. Its flagship Cognito platform includes specialized products such as Cognito Detect for Microsoft Office 365. The company reported Cognito platform sales grew 100% last year, while Cognito Detect for Microsoft Office 365 sales grew over 700%, signaling strong commercial traction. Vectra focuses on enterprise customers and partners with endpoint security vendors like CrowdStrike, SentinelOne and Carbon Black rather than building endpoint products itself. It maintains a research team that detects new activity and develops algorithms, and it plans to expand its technology and pursue acquisitions to add capabilities and customers. The company emphasizes network-layer defense as an alternative line of defense against sophisticated attacks that exploit application and user vulnerabilities. Vectra offers a network detection and response platform, Cognito®, that accelerates threat detection and investigation using AI-enriched network metadata. The Cognito platform supports cloud and data center workloads as well as user and IoT devices. Vectra provides three applications on Cognito: Cognito Stream for sending security-enriched metadata to data lakes and SIEMs, Cognito Recall for storing and investigating threats in enriched metadata, and Cognito Detect to reveal and prioritize hidden and unknown attackers. Led by president and CEO Hitesh Sheth, the company plans to use new funding to accelerate global market expansion and R&D innovation. The company is based in San Jose, CA and the round brought total funding to date to more than $200M. Vectra builds Cognito™, an AI-based threat-hunting platform that automates detection and response to in-progress cyberattacks across data center and cloud workloads as well as user and IoT devices. Cognito correlates threats, prioritizes hosts by risk, and supplies rich context to enable responses with existing security systems; the company says it reduces security operations workload by 168x. Vectra closed a $36M Series D in February 2018, bringing total funding to $123M to date. The company will use the funds to expand sales and marketing globally and accelerate product development. It is opening a new R&D center in Dublin to expand its product portfolio, provide global reach to serve Fortune 500 customers, and create up to 100 jobs in Ireland over the next five years. Led by president and CEO Hitesh Sheth, Vectra is based in San Jose and maintains R&D facilities in San Jose, Austin and Cambridge. Vectra Networks is a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of a platform for real-time detection of cyber attacks. Led by CEO Hitesh Sheth, the company delivers continuous automated cyber attack detection and reporting that identifies attacks while they are happening and describes what the attacker is doing. Its platform automatically prioritizes attacks that pose the greatest business risk, enabling organizations to make decisions on where to focus their time and resources. Vectra received $25M in Series C financing. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate research and development, sales and marketing efforts. In conjunction with the financing, Accel Partner Eric Wolford joined Vectra’s Board of Directors.

Participated · Series D · Feb 2018

Vectra builds the Cognito platform, an AI-driven network detection and response (NDR) solution that provides 360-degree visibility into cloud, data center, user, and IoT infrastructure. Cognito enriches network metadata with AI to accelerate detection, hunting, and investigation of known and unknown threats in real time. Vectra offers three Cognito applications: Cognito Stream (sends security-enriched metadata to data lakes and SIEM), Cognito Recall (cloud-based application for storing and investigating threats in enriched metadata), and Cognito Detect (uses AI to reveal and prioritize hidden and unknown attackers). The company says the platform addresses cloud security gaps and enables enterprises to stop hidden cyberattacks. Vectra plans to use the funding to accelerate global market expansion, R&D innovation, hire more talent, and solidify Cognito as a market-leading AI-driven cloud security solution. In 2018 the company reported 104% growth in annual recurring revenue versus 2017, and it has raised more than $200 million to date. Vectra’s core product, Cognito, is an AI-built intrusion detection system that identifies cyberattacks and triggers security responses, with a focus on network traffic rather than endpoint logs. The company targets large enterprises across finance, healthcare, government, tech and education, and named customers include LiveNation/Ticketmaster, Pinterest, Kronos, Tribune Media, Verifone, Agilent, Texas A&M University and DZ Bank. Vectra reported 181% growth in customer subscriptions between 2016 and 2017 and said it expected similar growth the following year. The startup raised $36M in a Series D described as a “path to profitability,” intended to expand R&D and business development and potentially be its last round before becoming profitable. Vectra plans to build an R&D center in Dublin tied to investment from Ireland’s Strategic Investment Fund. Total capital raised to date is $123M, and PitchBook cited a pre-money valuation just under $344M based on a March 2016 round; the company did not disclose a current valuation.