Perimeter 81, a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and Network as a Service provider, has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners.
Perimeter 81's simply stated goal: Accelerate hiring and development to further disrupt traditional VPN (virtual private network) and firewall markets. The company has an MSP- and MSSP-focused partner program, which offers deal registration, a dedicated partner portal, 24x7 partner support, account management and more.
Insight Partners has extensive experience investing in channel-, MSP- and MSSP-friendly technology companies. Key portfolio companies include such software providers as Kaseya, SentinelOne and Veeam, among others.
Perimeter 81: SonicWall Partnership, Business Growth
Perimeter 81 previously raised $25 million from its seed investor Spring Ventures led by Aviv Refuah, and Series A investors SonicWall and Toba Capital. The company also partners with SentinelOne.
Perimeter 81's SASE platform combines its Network as a Service offering with cloud security capabilities from SonicWall, the company notes.
The startup now has closely to 1,000 customers, and annual recurring revenue (ARR) has grown 400 percent -- though actual dollar figures were not disclosed so it's difficult to put the growth rate in proper context.
The company plans to hire across Sales, Marketing and R&D teams, and is opening a new office in California.
Insight Partners Invests In Perimeter 81: Executive Perspectives
In a prepared statement about the funding, Perimeter 81 Co-founder and CEO Amit Bareket said:
“With COVID-19, we witnessed an incredible surge in the demand for our services as the transition to remote work -- which occurred virtually overnight -- illuminated the need for companies worldwide to depart from their legacy hardware-based security and fully embrace a holistic, cloud edge network. We are thrilled that Insight Partners embraces our vision and shares our belief in the importance of forever transforming the way organizations are consuming cyber and network security.”
Added Co-founder and CPO Sagi Gidali:
“We’ve had a long relationship with Insight Partners and have always been closely aligned on the significance of strong SaaS offerings and the value they bring to the market. We are confident that in working together, we can continue to develop highly innovative network security solutions and further disrupt this industry.”
Thomas Krane, principal at Insight Partners, concluded:
“Over the last few months, companies globally have been forced to initiate a distributed workforce model with the need for employees to securely connect to their company’s network and online resources,” said Thomas Krane, Principal at Insight Partners who will be joining the Perimeter 81 board. “Perimeter 81 has successfully solved this challenge by bringing the security requirements of Fortune 500 companies into an accessible cloud-based platform suited for the remote workforce. We are thrilled to continue our commitment to the Israeli cyber ecosystem and partner with Amit, Sagi, and the rest of the team on the next phase of their ScaleUp journey.”
Krane will be joining the Perimeter 81 board.
SASE for MSPs and MSSPs: Crowded Market
SASE, short for Secure Access Service Edge, typically combines network security functions (such as Secure Web Gateway, Cloud Access Security Broker, Firewall as a Service and Zero Trust Network Access), with WAN capabilities such as SD-WAN services, Gartner notes.
Multiple technology vendors are jumping in the SASE market, and promoting MSP and MSSP partner programs.
For instance, Fortinet recently acquired Opaq Networks and now promotes FortiSASE to MSP and MSSP partners, CEO Ken Xie mentioned during Fortinet's earnings call last week with Wall Street analysts.
