Valtix raises $12.5 million as cloud native security becomes more urgent

As companies shift more of their operations to the cloud, security is becoming a greater priority even as it becomes potentially more complex. That’s leading to an increase in spending, as well as an opportunity to address a fragmented set of security solutions.

That’s the goal of Valtix, a cloud native network security platform that intends to plug gaps in application and network security across multiple cloud environments. The company has built a kind of one-stop shop that combines traditional security features such as user security, endpoint security, app firewall, intrusion detection, prevention, malware protection, and data leakage.

“Cloud is going to win the day in terms of infrastructure the next decade,” Valtix CEO Douglas Murray said. “And so when we look at the opportunities ahead, when building a company from scratch, clearly you want to focus 100% on the public cloud.”

Today, the company announced it has raised $ 12.5 million in venture capital from strategic partners Cisco Investments and The Syndicate Group, as well as venture firm Northgate Capital. This round comes after Valtix raised $ 14 million in 2019 from Trinity Ventures, Vertex Ventures, and Wing Venture Capital.

The funding arrives amid broader interest in early-stage startups that can address security with different architectures. And it’s another sign of the growing focus on cloud security.

Valtix’s platform went live last year, and it now works across Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. The company’s initial customers span sectors such as financial services, health care, retail, and government.

Murray said many customers currently see security vendors who tackle one slice of the security problem. That leaves customers having to choose between cobbling together their own security package from multiple vendors or selecting a basic security service that may not be adequate.

Valtix’s platform automates much of the security setup by discovering apps on the cloud and deploying appropriate defenses.

“We want to build a comprehensive security offering for networking applications and those associated workloads and public cloud using first a discovery module,” Murray said. “Then secondly, a deployment module. And then last, defense, which is obviously where things happen in terms of enforcement.”

Valtix plans to use the money to expand marketing and scale in the coming year. The company will get a boost in those efforts from The Syndicate Group, which works with a larger network of VARs and integrators. In addition, the Cisco investment comes as part of a partnership that will help expand Valtix’s reach.