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Ballistic Ventures leads investment in startup enabling companies to deliver the best possible cybersecurity using the products they already own

Sunnyvale, CA – March 7, 2024 – Reach Security, the company pioneering advanced AI to reinvent security operations, today announced $20 million in funding led by Ballistic Ventures, with participation from Artisanal Ventures and industry luminaries, including Mark McLaughlin, former CEO and President of Palo Alto Networks. Existing backers Webb Investment Network, Ridge Ventures, and TechOperators also joined the round.

Sentiment has shifted in the cybersecurity market. Leaders are tired of buying tools but not knowing whether those tools are helping, or how to use them more effectively. And defenders are stretched too thin to master the growing number of capabilities; the last thing in the world they want is more. With configurations and policies out of date, attackers easily exploit the gaps. Platforms were supposed to fix this, but numbers don’t lie: Every year brings more breaches than the year before. This change in perspective has driven significant momentum for Reach, who are reshaping the way teams consume security and capitalize on their existing investments.

Co-founders Garrett Hamilton, CEO, and Colt Blackmore, CTO, spent more than a decade building detection and prevention products at some of the most iconic cybersecurity companies – Palo Alto Networks, Proofpoint, and Cylance. “This gave us the unique opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with hundreds of security teams when things went wrong, and it was always the same story: They could’ve stopped the attack with the tools they already had,” Hamilton said. “Every other company in our industry will say that you need another security mousetrap to solve this problem. They’re wrong. We’ve looked at tens-of-thousands of enterprises and seen firsthand that the average security team uses less than 20% of what they have, and struggles to secure their organization as a direct result.”

“Reach Security represents a pivotal shift in how cybersecurity leaders will buy, deploy and manage their security solutions,” said Barmak Meftah, Co-founder and General Partner of Ballistic Ventures, who joins the Board of Directors as part of the firm’s investment. “Before companies invest in more point products, they need to know how to use their current solutions effectively to minimize their risk exposure and maximize efficacy without disrupting the business,” he added. “From day one, we’ve been impressed with the team and technology behind Reach, and their approach aligns perfectly with our vision to invest in companies that are truly redefining the cybersecurity landscape.”

The Technology Behind Reach Security

Reach Security delivers the first AI purpose-built to reprogram an organization’s security infrastructure based on who they are and how they’re being attacked. Unlike solutions limited to cloud security, Reach acts across the entire security estate, interrogating each tool, gathering data on who is being targeted and how those attacks work. It takes seconds to set up and minutes for insight and action, with no new sensors, infrastructure, or attack simulations required.

The result is leaders having complete visibility into what has been deployed, how it can be improved and the tools necessary to help defenders tailor improvements to protect them.

Companies trust Reach to make these mission-critical decisions because Reach’s AI does not hallucinate and does not make mistakes – it’s a different kind of AI, one designed with accountability and reliability in mind.

Industry Support for Reach Security

• Mark McLaughlin, the former CEO and President of Palo Alto Networks, and angel investor in Reach: “Security teams continue to grapple with choosing between best-of- breed capabilities and the tremendous benefits provided by platforms. Reach understands this challenge and meets customers on the path between the two options, focusing on what matters – empowering their teams to get the best possible security posture from the tools they already own. I invested in Reach now because their approach is always relevant, and it becomes even more critical when economic headwinds demand that every dollar spent must produce tangible results from security investments.”
• Sebastian Goodwin, Global CISO of Autodesk, a Reach customer: “We’ve seen firsthand how Reach’s platform increases our visibility and optimizes our security stack, providing our teams with capabilities to measurably maximize our effectiveness. Reach has offered a valuable capability that helps my team realize Autodesk’s mission to be the most trusted partner in the industries we serve.”
• Geoff Belknap, CISO of LinkedIn, a strong Reach supporter: “Reach has found a way to take the age-old problem of ‘too many tools and not enough people’ and solve it with a purpose-built product that focuses on helping organizations be as effective as possible with what they already have. They’re showing that pragmatic approaches to solving security problems can have an outsized impact on our industry.”
• Jon Jensen, Vice President of Cyber Security Sales at Presidio, a Reach channel partner: “Reach’s market opportunity is massive. Its product resonates with teams and our customers. The idea that security is most effective when tailored to an organization is something we’ve preached in security for years, and Reach is making it scalable for the first time with AI.”

Reach Security addresses a universal need. For CISOs and security leaders who want to address that need now, schedule a demo or learn more at Reach Security.