Joining the D.C. area unicorn club is operational tech (OT) cybersecurity startup Dragos. Following its latest $200 million Series D, the startup is now valued at $1.7 billion — breaking records as both the largest funding round and the highest valuation achieved by an OT cybersecurity company, according to a statement from Dragos.
Dragos is focused on industrial cyber threats or those that target industries like power and water utilities, energy and manufacturing, among others. Protecting the industrial control systems (ICS) used by these industries is critical to keeping some of our most basic necessities up and running, but it isn’t easy. While OT systems typically have fewer areas in which hackers can enter or extract data, the systems can be difficult to defend from cyberattacks because it can be hard to ascertain if they are running vulnerable software. That’s where Dragos comes in.
The Dragos platform offers asset visibility, vulnerability management, threat detection, collective defense and investigation capabilities all in one easy-to-navigate portal. With Dragos, cyber-defenders can view ICS and OT from all angles, making it easier to determine vulnerabilities and threats in these systems. Dragos also provides professional services ranging from cybersecurity assessments to incident response.
“The risks are not just in cyberattacks, though those are becoming more numerous and aggressive, but also in ensuring the appropriate insights into ICS/OT environments to maintain resilience as our world’s infrastructures and industrial automation environments become more connected and more complex,” Robert M. Lee, Dragos CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.
The company has experienced a ton of growth lately, with over 100 percent year-over-year growth in platform recurring revenue. Over the last year, Dragos has also expanded to a number of international markets including the U.K., New Zealand, Australia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The company also recently launched its new Neighborhood Keeper initiative, which allows ICS/OT professionals to work together to respond to cyber threats and protect each other by crowdsourcing information.
Hanover, Maryland-based Dragos isn’t the only OT cybersecurity company in D.C. to receive investment. Shift5, a company focused on OT cybersecurity threats facing the military and commercial transportation industries, received $20 million in October as well.
Dragos plans to use the Series D funding to accelerate its global expansion as well as bolster support for ICS/OT events, education and networking opportunities, according to the company. The recent round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies.
