Abacode, a Top 200 MSSP in Tampa, Florida, has raised $4.85 million in Series A funding to expand its sales, security operations center (SOC) and project execution teams. The lead funder is Ballast Point Ventures, Abacode says.
In addition to its 24x7 SOC, Abacode provides Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Readiness services to help clientele prepare for third-party audits and certifications. The MSSP also offers vulnerability assessments and digital forensics. The company's focus is mid-market businesses to publicly traded global enterprises.
MSSP Funding: Abacode, Ballast Executive Perspectives
LinkedIn: Mike Ferris, CEO, Abacode
In a prepared statement about the funding, Abacode CEO Mike Ferris said:
“We are extremely excited to partner with Ballast Point Ventures as we continue our focus on building a world-class MSSP and invest heavily in scaling our service offerings. BPV was the right partner at the right time. Our visions are perfectly aligned in order to add unique value to our clients and partners alike.”
Added Ballast Point Ventures Principal Sean Barkman, who will join the Abacode board of directors.
“The Abacode team has made great progress growing its customer base, service offering, and organization during the Company’s short history. This is an exciting opportunity for BPV to partner with an impressive management team we have known for a few years now who are building a leading compliance-oriented cybersecurity business in a dynamic industry segment."
Abacode: MSSP Business Expansion, Alliances
Abacode has made multiple business moves over the past year or so. Key milestones include hiring U.S. Air Force veterans Toney Jennings and Michael Brooks as chief revenue officer (CRO) and director of GRC, respectively.
On the partnership front, Abacode has made the following announcements::
- March 2019 Partnered with TAG Alliances — an organization whose members provide legal, accounting, financial and business support worldwide.
- February 2019: Aligned with Tech Data -- a neighbor in Tampa, Florida -- to promote Abacode's security and compliance program plus implementation services.
- March 2018: Emerged as AlienVault's Global Growth Partner of the Year. (AlienVault has since been acquired by AT&T.)
- March 2018: Partnered with KnowBe4, the fast-growing security awareness specialist also located in Tampa.
Additional MSSP Funding, Investments and Acquisitions
Amid the frantic cybersecurity land grab, multiple MSSPs have raised venture capital and private equity funding in recent months. Examples include:
- July 2019: Digital Hands, an MSSP & security operations center-as-a-service (SOCaaS) provider that supports MSPs, raised $15 million in private equity.
- June 2019: Expel raises $40 million to expand managed treat monitoring, investigation, response and hunting.
- April 2019: Deepwatch, an MSSP spin-out from GuidePoint Security, raised $23 million to accelerate cloud-based SecOps, machine learning & analytics R&D.
- February 2019: Anitian, a Top 200 MSSP that evolved from a VAR business toward SaaS cybersecurity platform developer, raised $11 million in Series A funding.
On a related note, M&A deal activity among MSSPs has also remained strong.
