ThreatLocker has raised $190 million in Series F funding to accelerate product development, strengthen its artificial intelligence security capabilities and expand internationally. The round was led by Elephant, with continued participation from D. E. Shaw Ventures and Arthur Ventures. Koch Disruptive Technologies made a significant new investment in the company.
The company plans to use the capital to improve its Zero Trust Platform, develop additional controls for AI-related security risks and expand into more international markets. Its next geographic step will be the opening of an office in Reading, United Kingdom, to support customers across the U.K. and Europe.
ThreatLocker develops prevention-focused cybersecurity products based on a deny-by-default model. Instead of allowing software and activity to run unless they are identified as malicious, the platform permits only applications, users and actions that an organization has explicitly approved.
This approach is intended to prevent known and unknown threats from executing, including malicious software that may not yet be recognized by conventional detection tools.
ThreatLocker believes prevention has become more important as organizations deploy AI agents with access to sensitive applications, information and business systems.
AI agents can perform actions independently across multiple software products. Although these capabilities can improve productivity, they can also create security risks when agents receive excessive permissions, execute unsafe code or expose confidential information.
ThreatLocker Allowlisting prevents unauthorized AI tools and AI-generated code from running within an organization’s environment.
Its Ringfencing technology controls which files, applications, systems and resources an approved program or AI agent can access, modify or communicate with. This allows an organization to approve an application while still restricting what it can do.
ThreatLocker also provides controls for governing access to AI websites and reducing the risk that employees or automated systems expose sensitive information through external AI services.
These products complement the company’s recently introduced Zero Trust Network Access and Zero Trust Cloud Access capabilities. Together, they extend the platform’s controls across endpoints, networks and cloud resources through a unified dashboard.
ThreatLocker said its growth has been supported by making Zero Trust security easier to deploy, manage and scale across complex technology environments.
Zero Trust programs have historically been viewed as difficult to implement because organizations must identify approved software, determine appropriate access levels and manage policies across numerous users, devices and applications.
ThreatLocker seeks to reduce that operational burden by providing centralized controls that can be implemented without interrupting normal business activity.
The company now protects more than 70,000 organizations worldwide.
ThreatLocker has also expanded its international operations during the past 18 months. It added offices in Brisbane, Australia, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, alongside existing locations in Orlando, Florida, and Dublin, Ireland.
The planned Reading office will give the company a stronger local presence as it pursues additional customers and channel relationships across the U.K. and European cybersecurity markets.
ThreatLocker has appeared on the Inc. 5000 ranking of fast-growing private U.S. companies for two consecutive years.
The company intends to use the new financing to continue shifting cybersecurity away from an allow-by-default model, in which applications and activity are generally permitted unless blocked, toward a deny-by-default structure that requires explicit authorization.
For ThreatLocker, this model gives organizations greater control over the software, users, devices and AI agents operating within their environments.
As part of the investment relationship, Koch Disruptive Technologies will provide access to its partner network, industry experience and Koch Labs capabilities. The firm plans to work with ThreatLocker as it expands operations and develops additional cybersecurity products.
Elephant increased its backing after participating in an earlier ThreatLocker financing. The investment firm cited the company’s execution, product development and ability to anticipate demand for prevention-based cybersecurity.
BofA Securities served as ThreatLocker’s exclusive placement agent for the Series F financing. Latham & Watkins advised ThreatLocker on legal matters.
KEY QUOTES:
“Most cybersecurity tools are still built around identifying malicious activity after it has already entered an environment, when the damage may already be done.”
“We believe the better model is to define what is allowed and deny everything else by default. We are living in a world where new agents are constantly being introduced and granted access to sensitive resources, which makes our mission more urgent.”
“Our investors share our vision for changing the cybersecurity paradigm, and their partnership will help us strengthen our platform and protect more organizations around the world.”
Danny Jenkins, Co-Founder and CEO of ThreatLocker
“Since our initial investment, ThreatLocker has demonstrated strong execution, established itself as a product leader, and consistently anticipated where the cybersecurity market is headed.”
“As more organizations seek prevention-based security and practical approaches to Zero Trust, ThreatLocker is uniquely positioned to capture that demand. Our continued investment reflects our confidence in both the team and the significant opportunity ahead.”
Jeremiah Daly, Partner at Elephant
“At a time when organizations are facing new and complex cybersecurity challenges, the differentiated ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform is delivering real value to its customers.”
“We are impressed with the team’s commitment to their vision and look forward to supporting them as they continue to innovate and scale globally.”
Emerson James, Director at Koch Disruptive Technologies
