- Global secure coding company Secure Code Warrior announced that it raised $47.6 million in Series B funding led by Goldman Sachs
Secure Code Warrior — a global secure coding company — announced it raised $47.6 million in Series B funding led by Goldman Sachs. And additional investors also include ForgePoint Capital and Cisco Investments with new commitments from existing investors Sydney-based AirTree Ventures and Paladin Capital Group.
The investment — which represents the largest ever US investment of its kind for an Australian cybersecurity business — will be used to support global expansion initiatives, ongoing product innovation, and the establishment of new operations on the West Coast of the United States in Portland, Oregon, and across APAC starting in Singapore.
“As organizations around the world increase their reliance on software, the need for secure code has never been more important. However, each day, security breaches resulting from previously known software vulnerabilities occur, impacting both individuals and organizations,” said Secure Code Warrior, co-founder, CEO, and chairman Pieter Danhieux. “To put it simply, this situation has to stop. Secure Code Warrior’s vision is to make developers the first line of defense by making security highly visible and providing them with the skills and tools needed to write secure code from the beginning. Our purpose is to support their ultimate goal of shipping secure code with confidence.”
Launched in 2015 by global cybersecurity experts Pieter Danhieux and Dr. Matias Madou, Secure Code Warrior helps developers think and act with a security mindset every day. And it includes support for nearly 30 programming languages and frameworks along with delivering over 3,500 training modules that cover more than 140 different software weaknesses.
“The Digital Enterprise and CI/CD are two major trends that are placing the application and the developer on the frontlines of the business. Secure Code Warrior helps organizations code more securely while allowing them to maintain productivity and delivery timelines,” added David Campbell, a Managing Director in Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division who will join the Secure Code Warrior board of directors as part of the investment. “We are excited to be working with Pieter and the Secure Code Warrior team as they execute their unique vision.”
The Secure Code Warrior platform was built to be role-specific for developers and uses a mix of gamification techniques to help developers learn and increase adoption across an organization.
Plus it supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks that power modern software, including vital digital infrastructures such as web apps and services, API, mobile, IoT technology, and legacy systems still in use by major companies around the world.
“In a time when the industry is struggling with securing their environment and products, Secure Code Warrior addresses the root cause – Dev Ops delivering secure code. Secure Code Warrior solves a fundamental problem for organizations: teaching, measuring and improving secure coding skills during the development process. The Security industry cannot keep up with the vulnerabilities hackers produce, as current market solutions are simply not effective,” commented Sean Cunningham, Managing Director at ForgePoint Capital. “Secure Code Warrior’s unique approach and vision delivers phenomenal insights and solutions to developers and management. ForgePoint Capital is honored to work with Pieter, Matias and their world-class team as they continue their successful journey”.
This recent investment round follows Secure Code Warrior’s previous Series A funding in mid-2018, which was led by Paladin Capital Group and AirTree Ventures.
Since then, Secure Code Warrior experienced substantial growth and now has more than 180 customers from 28 countries around the world.
“Cisco fundamentally believes that securing applications requires a cooperative model. Reducing risk and increasing agility are not mutually exclusive objectives, as Pieter and the Secure Code Warrior team are demonstrating by delivering on a critical step in that direction. We are pleased to invest in Secure Code Warrior as they continue to enable development and security teams to construct safer code,” noted Bret Hartman, vice president and CTO of the Cisco Security Business Group.
Along with the addition to customer growth, staff numbers have risen to over 120 employees globally with plans to continue rapid hiring in all locations and functions as well as maintaining the company’s diversity profile of near-parity between females and males.
The company’s roots are firmly based in Australia and Belgium. But the company has been globally focused since day one. Some of the company’s early local customers include the Commonwealth Bank and Tyro Payments. Verizon, the BBC, DBS Bank, Revolut, Standard Chartered Bank, ING Bank, Telstra, and Motorola are also some of the company’s customers.
“Secure Code Warrior is succeeding in solving for a fundamental tension in the era of digital transformation: the increasing push for business agility while maintaining high cybersecurity and risk management standards. By empowering developers at the front lines of the modern digital enterprise, SCW is leading the charge in enabling its customers to be more secure and trusted, all while enhancing efficiency,” explained Mourad Yesayan, board member and Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group. “We are delighted to partner with these world-class financial and strategic investors to support Pieter, Matias, and a phenomenal team in this next phase of rapid growth.”a
This year, Secure Code Warrior added new customers from Argentina, Peru, South Korea, Norway, India, South Africa, the UAE, and the Philippines.
“The addition of customers from across the world signals that not only is software development on the rise pretty much everywhere, but also that the opportunity to increase the world’s secure coding skills at source is enormous, and we have really only just begun,” added Danhieux.
Secure Code’s vision is to empower developers to be the first line of defense in their organization by making security highly visible and providing them with the skills and tools to write secure code from the beginning.
“The new front in the cybersecurity war is being fought by software developers. Secure Code Warrior is focused on helping developers write code more securely, and they have emerged as a clear global leader in developer-driven cybersecurity. This is one of the fastest-growing software companies we’ve seen come out of Australia, and it’s fantastic to see Australian based technology like this being exported around the globe. We’re excited to be doubling down and supporting them in their global expansion,” stated AirTree Ventures partner James Cameron.
