ContraForce, the security service delivery platform company, today announced the closing of a $3.25 million seed funding round, co-led by GALLOS Ventures and DataTribe. The funding round enables ContraForce’s mission to automate security operations and expand the security services opportunity for managed service providers.
Founded in McKinney, Texas in 2021, ContraForce has developed a groundbreaking security service delivery platform that allows service providers to grow their monthly recurring revenue, improve their margins and deliver better client outcomes. The company saw annual recurring revenue grow 400 percent over the past 12 months and has established a growing customer base and distribution partners around the world.
The ContraForce platform employs proprietary AI and automation that streamlines the time and security expertise service providers require to manage security incident and event management and endpoint detection and response tools including Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender, Splunk Enterprise Security, IBM QRadar SIEM, Crowdstrike Falcon XDR and SentinelOne Singularity XDR. ContraForce was recognized by Microsoft Intelligent Security Association as their 2024 Security ISV of the year. ContraForce was also recently honored as an SC Awards winner for Most Promising Early-Stage Startup and selected as a SINET16 Innovator. Using the ContraForce platform, service providers can onboard clients within a few minutes and easily manage all their clients and security tools simultaneously in a single dashboard.
A recent McKinsey and Company report highlighted the massive opportunity in cybersecurity managed services, with a total available market of $400-500 billion and current solutions only penetrating 5-10% of the market. The main obstacle to deeper penetration is the shortage of qualified cybersecurity personnel, underscoring the urgent need for automated solutions like those offered by ContraForce. ContraForce enables service providers to add a new line of business by allowing them to immediately launch managed detection and response and managed security operation center (SOC) services.
The oversubscribed investment round, which included participation from angels and strategic partners, brings a total of $5.25 million in investment to ContraForce, which will use the capital to accelerate the release of new product features and invest in sales and marketing in preparation for a future Series A round.
William Kilmer, General Partner at GALLOS Ventures, stated, “GALLOS specializes in investing in and building great security companies. We’re continuously seeking solutions that address real security challenges, particularly in security operations. ContraForce tackles one of the biggest problems in today’s market by automating the majority of incident investigation and remediation workflows while keeping critical decisions in the hands of security analyst teams.”
Kilmer added, “As a former CEO of a managed security services provider (MSSP), I see tremendous potential for ContraForce to scale the managed security services market in a highly efficient manner.”
Stan Golubchik, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of ContraForce, commented, “ContraForce’s goal is to help service providers automate and simplify the delivery of scalable security services. This investment from GALLOS not only provides us with the capital to achieve that, but also brings in a partner who understands how to build and grow security businesses on a global scale.”
ContraForce was originally founded with an investment from DataTribe, the Maryland-based cybersecurity foundry that has invested in successful cybersecurity startups, including Dragos, Blackcloak, and Strider Technologies. Maurice Boissiere, Partner at DataTribe, added, “We think ContraForce is helping to protect the vulnerable small and mid-sized enterprise sector and are pleased with the progress they are seeing with managed service providers and MSSPs toward this. I’m looking forward to working with WIll Kilmer given his venture and operations experience in this space.”
As part of the investment round, William Kilmer, GALLOS General Partner, has joined ContraForce’s board of directors.
About ContraForce:
ContraForce transforms how managed security services are delivered by allowing service providers to jumpstart a new line of business, improve their margins and deliver better client outcomes. The ContraForce Security Service Delivery Platform decouples security services from the underlying software used to provide them and employs proprietary AI and automation to improve service delivery efficiency. As a result, service providers around the world rely on the ContraForce Spark workbench to deploy or improve their own managed security service offerings or participate in the ContraForce Storm commercial program to have qualified providers deliver security services on their behalf. ContraForce is a member of the Microsoft Intelligent Security Association and is the 2024 Microsoft Security ISV of the year.
About GALLOS:
GALLOS Technologies is a venture studio and investor that builds and invests in cutting-edge security technology companies. Leveraging decades of nation-state-level security, intelligence, and defense experience, GALLOS brings a unique perspective on the technologies that companies and governments should deploy to mitigate global threats. GALLOS combines this insight with expertise in building and scaling successful ventures to create optimal outcomes for portfolio companies and investors.
About DataTribe:
DataTribe is a cybersecurity foundry that leverages deep experience and expertise to build and launch successful product companies. With a team comprising Silicon Valley and Intelligence Community founders, investors, and experienced entrepreneurs, DataTribe provides the knowledge and resources necessary to build thriving startups in the cybersecurity space.
