LOS ALTOS, Calif., Dec. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Contrast
Security, the pioneer in enabling "self-protecting" software with
security safeguards built directly into critical applications,
today announced it has landed strategic corporate investments by
AXA Strategic Ventures and Microsoft Ventures. This financing is a
subsequent closing to Contrast's Series C round announced in
October 2017.
The investments indicate mounting cross-industry support for
Contrast's unique software security approach. AXA Strategic
Ventures is the venture capital fund backed by AXA, the leading
global insurer and asset manager. AXA has been on the forefront of
developing cyber-insurance products, designed to protect
corporations and its customers from financial loss and support
business continuity. Microsoft Ventures is the corporate arm of
Microsoft, the leader of digital transformation in the era of an
intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Microsoft Ventures
partners with visionary entrepreneurs and startups, like Contrast
Security, looking to drive transformation through innovative new
technologies.
"Contrast Security is revolutionizing application security,
making it continuous and highly accurate throughout the software
lifecycle," said Alex Scherbakovsky,
General Partner at AXA Strategic Ventures. "This investment also
reflects our confidence in the strength of Contrast Security's
management team."
Contrast Security arms developers and security professionals
with the tools they need to both detect software vulnerabilities
early in development and maintain continuous application attack
monitoring and blocking into production. By eliminating the number
one source of security breaches today – insecure software
applications – Contrast Security helps reduce AXA's customers'
risk. AXA further demonstrated its commitment to building digital
resilience, by also deploying Contrast Security in AXA Switzerland
and AXA Germany.
"We have transformed our whole Application Development into
agile DevOps teams. With Contrast Security technology, all agile
developers can build secure applications," said Andreas Maier, CIO and Member of the Executive
Board, AXA Switzerland. "Contrast is fully automated in our
Jenkins-based continuous integration/deployment environment, which
supports our high productivity and security targets."
Contrast Assess and Contrast Protect work together continuously
across popular development (Agile, waterfall, etc.) and deployment
(DevOps, cloud, containers, hybrid, etc.) methods to enable
protection throughout the software lifecycle. This unified Contrast
Security platform provides the missing component that enables
enterprises to succeed in their digital transformation efforts
while minimizing risk.
"Application security is the fastest growing category in the
global IT security market," said Rashmi
Gopinath, partner at Microsoft Ventures. "From developers
using Microsoft Visual Studio, to organizations running their
critical applications in the Azure cloud, Contrast Security
delivers high-end real-time application security to protect against
serious security threats. Our investment in Contrast Security is a
reflection of our view of its state-of-the-art technology, and our
belief in how it will benefit enterprise customers."
"Having two leaders from their respective industries recognize
the potential of our self-protecting software is a major milestone
for application security and Contrast Security. AXA is a
proven innovator in its own right, designing products to
protect organizations from loss. Meanwhile, Microsoft Ventures has
proven to be an invested partner to startups, offering access to
unrivaled technology, go-to market resources and strategic
relationships around the world," said Alan
Naumann, CEO and board chairman of Contrast Security. "These
strategic investors will enable us to accelerate our business goals
and further our mission of building security safeguards directly
into critical applications. The Contrast team is thrilled to
have them as investors and partners."
Contrast's revolutionary approach to application security has
won numerous industry accolades this year, including:
- Gartner's only "Visionary" in February
2017 Magic Quadrant Application Security Testing
- 2017 SC (Magazine) Awards Rookie Security Company of the
Year
- 2017 RSA Innovation Sandbox Top 10 Finalist
- 2017 CRN Security 100 Winner
- 2017 Red Herring Top 100 North
America Winner
About Contrast Security:
Contrast Security is the
world's leading provider of security technology that enables
software applications to protect themselves against cyberattacks,
heralding the new era of self-protecting software. Contrast's
patented deep security instrumentation is the breakthrough
technology that enables highly accurate assessment and always-on
protection of an entire application portfolio, without disruptive
scanning or expensive security experts. Only Contrast has sensors
that work actively inside applications to uncover vulnerabilities,
prevent data breaches, and secure the entire enterprise from
development, to operations, to production. More information can be
found at www.contrastsecurity.com or by following Contrast on
Twitter at @ContrastSec.
About Microsoft Ventures:
Microsoft Ventures is the
corporate venture arm of Microsoft, (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) the
leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first,
cloud-first world. Microsoft Ventures partners with visionary
entrepreneurs looking to drive digital transformation. As part of
its promise to portfolio companies, Microsoft Ventures offers
unrivaled access to go-to-market resources and strategic
relationships globally. Microsoft Ventures currently operates in
London, New York, San
Francisco, Seattle and
Tel Aviv. Learn
more here.
AXA Strategic Ventures:
AXA Strategic Ventures (ASV)
is the venture capital fund backed by AXA, the leading global
insurer and asset manager. ASV manages 450M$, of which 275M$ for
direct investments and 175M$ for the Fund of Funds activity. ASV
invests in enterprise software, fintech, consumer technologies and
digital health, as well as other technologies relevant to insurance
and asset management. With offices in San
Francisco, New York,
London and Paris, ASV invests globally. More information
on www.axastrategicventures.com.
For more information:
Jacklyn
Kellick
LEWIS Communications for Contrast Security
ContrastSecurity@teamlewis.com
+1-415-432-2415
View original content with
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/contrast-security-announces-microsoft-ventures-and-axa-strategic-ventures-as-global-strategic-investors-300568151.html
SOURCE Contrast Security