Threat X, the leading provider of SaaS-based web application firewall solutions for real-time threat detection and neutralization, today announced it has closed an $8.2 million Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Grotech Ventures and Access Venture Partners. The funding will fuel continued growth and support rapid adoption of Threat X's, kill-chain based threat detection and neutralization solution and managed security service.

The complexity of hybrid cloud, web application and legacy environments, along with mobile, IoT, and web APIs, has created a vast attack surface that simply can't be covered by current generation WAF solutions. Threat X addresses this gap with an adaptable, cloud-based solution that employs kill-chain based, progressive profiling to identify and neutralize threats. This greatly reduces the false positives and heavy maintenance burdens associated with current WAF solutions while adapting to ever- changing cloud environments and vulnerabilities.

The company's cloud-based solutions and managed service are currently deployed across a range of industries and customers including BMC Software, Denver Health, GHX, and Kroenke Sports and Entertainment.

"The biggest security challenge every organization faces today is keeping up with an evolving threat landscape amidst hybrid cloud environments, highly dynamic application development and customization approaches, and the sheer volume of systems exposed to the outside world. Our goal is to help organizations protect their applications with a SaaS based web application firewall that provides a holistic view of every attack, the techniques being utilized, and target vulnerabilities. Our behavioral profiling and correlation engine analyzes each attack and eliminates false positives by grading risk level and progress throughout the 'kill-chain'. Our customers can also leverage our deep analytics and expert security team for greater threat intelligence and visibility into preventative measures."
Bret Settle, Founder and CEO, Threat X

"We deployed Threat X in days across our complex application environment and instantly had a holistic, risk-based view of all threats and vulnerabilities. With its unique 'kill-chain' based approach we immediately reduced our false positives, allowing us to move to blocking mode in days versus the several weeks required by our prior WAF solution. From an operational perspective, the automated threat correlation capabilities have provided high visibility with minimal maintenance, allowing my team to focus on other strategic initiatives."
Sloane Stricker, CISO and VP Global Operations and Infrastructure, Global Healthcare Exchange

"First generation WAF solutions can be difficult to deploy, require significant time and expertise to maintain and often generate costly false positives. Next generation WAF's must be deployable within minutes across modern, cloud-based applications and address the vulnerabilities these environments present to ever-advancing threat actors. Threat X is well positioned to address these needs with a managed cloud service that can be deployed quickly, and a behavioral profiling approach that is specifically designed to provide a 360-degree view of your threat profile."
Michael Suby, Stratecast VP of Research Stratecast Frost & Sullivan

"We spoke to a large number of CISO's in our diligence and across the board everyone was looking to replace their Imperva, F5 Networks, and Akamai WAF solutions. It was clear that those 1st generation platforms require a large investment in time and expertise to get them to work even marginally. In most cases the platforms were providing minimal protection and generating significant noise from false positives. With the universal shortage of security expertise, all today's CISO wants is a solution that can deliver quick and accurate application threat coverage while allowing them to focus their teams on other issues."
Joe Zell, Grotech Ventures

Additional resources

Threat X Demo
About Threat X
Threat X is the leading provider of SaaS-based Web Application Firewall (WAF) solutions for real-time threat detection. The Threat X platform delivers rapidly deployable, kill-chain based threat detection and neutralization in a highly adaptable, cloud-based architecture designed for modern application environments and constantly evolving threats. Threat X eliminates the false positives and maintenance burdens associated with 1st generation WAF's and static, rule-based solutions by automating the correlation and analysis required to identify real and active threats in any environment.

Learn more about Threat X here and connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Grotech Ventures
Founded in 1984, Grotech Ventures is a leading early investor in high-potential technology companies. Grotech seeks innovative, early-stage investments across the IT landscape and continues to invest and add value throughout the life cycle of each portfolio company. The firm has a strong combination of financial backing, industry relationships, and deep domain and operational expertise to accelerate growth. With more than $1 billion in committed capital, Grotech supports early-stage companies through investments starting at $500,000. For more information, visit http://www.grotech.com.

About Access Venture Partners
Since 1999, this Denver-based, entrepreneur-focused fund has been investing in early-stage Colorado Front Range tech companies led by exceptional management teams with the passion and ability to build world-class organizations that can redefine markets - and maybe even change the world. The firm's investment portfolio includes partnerships with innovators such as Logrhythm, Red Canary, Craftsy, Inspirato, Taskeasy, Shapeshift, and Cloud Elements among others.