San Francisco, Calif. — Sept. 2, 2021 — Corelight, provider of the industry’s first open network detection and response (NDR) platform, today announced it has raised $75 million in Series D investment led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP). 

Previous investors Accel, General Catalyst, Insight Partners and Osage University Partners also joined the round, as well as new investor H.I.G. Growth Partners, and strategic investment from Capital One Ventures, CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, and Gaingels. Corelight has raised a total of $160 million to date, with this latest round fueling acceleration of both global market presence and development of new data and cloud offerings.

Corelight is the fastest growing NDR platform, serving defenders in some of the world’s largest financial institutions, retail and healthcare organizations, critical infrastructure providers and government agencies. Building on more than 20 years of open source development and community-driven insight, Corelight provides security teams with the world’s best network evidence so they can close investigations quickly, even when incidents go back years. 

“This latest investment is a powerful affirmation not only of the network detection and response category, but also of our open source heritage, data-centric approach, and commitment to customer success,” said Brian Dye, CEO of Corelight. “I am grateful for our investors’ partnership as we help organizations around the world move to a data-driven security strategy.”

Lead investor EIP is a global investment platform backed by a large coalition of forward-looking utilities and industrial partners and focused on investing in cybersecurity, digital transformation, utility infrastructure and the broader energy transition. 

“EIP’s focus on critical infrastructure providers is highly aligned with both our mission and market traction,” said Dye. “Helping these institutions defend against increasingly sophisticated attackers is essential given their role in society and the economy.” 

“Corelight’s strong NDR technology, rooted in open source, has had a significant impact across industries and is rapidly becoming the de-facto standard for sophisticated defenders,” said Shawn Cherian, partner at EIP. “We look forward to supporting them as they expand their existing footprint within the sustainable energy, manufacturing and other critical infrastructure sectors.”

New investor H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital and focuses on certain high-growth sectors where it has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, healthcare, internet and media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services.

“Corelight helps some of the world’s most advanced companies protect and secure their networks from cyber threats,” said Scott Hilleboe, managing director at H.I.G. Growth Partners. “By leveraging Zeek, the industry’s leading open-source data platform, Corelight is uniquely positioned to help security operations teams become more efficient in threat inspection, response, and remediation. We have been incredibly impressed by the company’s exceptional growth and are excited to partner with a world-class organization.”

Strategic investments signal solid support for Corelight’s Open NDR strategy and the company’s commitment to diversity

“These strategic investors mirror our strategy, market focus and values as an organization,” said Dye. “Each brings a unique perspective that will improve our ability to deliver data-centric security.” 

The CrowdStrike Falcon Fund focuses on both early stage and strategic investments in companies that are building solutions that integrate with the CrowdStrike Falcon® platform. 

“Corelight and CrowdStrike’s strong shared commitment to data-centric security makes this a strong fit within the Falcon Fund portfolio,” said Michael Sentonas, CTO at CrowdStrike. “We are excited to support Corelight’s continued innovation in the NDR category and the growth of their new data and cloud offerings. As cyber threats increase in number and complexity, the importance of solutions like Corelight have never been greater, providing increased visibility and comprehensive data that allows organizations to identify vulnerabilities and resolve security issues faster.” 

Capital One Ventures is a strategic investor, funding startups that are driving the future of data, technology and financial services, including cybersecurity companies. 

“We root our decisions on which companies we invest in based on the impact we believe those companies will have on their customers,” said Jay Emmanuel, partner at Capital One Ventures. “Partnering with Corelight in this round is a natural extension of the work we have been doing with open source NDR tools and the investments we have been making in strong cyber security solutions. We are thrilled to work with Corelight on new opportunities.”

Gaingels is the leading investment syndicate in support of and representing the LGBTQ+ community and allies in the venture capital space. Gaingels invests in companies with LGBTQ+ founders and C-suite leaders at all stages of growth, as well as in other high-growth companies resolved on building more inclusive teams. 

“As the largest investor network focused on supporting and investing in the best venture-backed companies that embrace and value diverse leadership, including LGBTQ+, Gaingels is proud to be participating in this financing round with Corelight,” said Lorenzo Thione, managing director of Gaingels. “Our team is resolved on helping the company grow and scale while strengthening its prospects of success by building a culture that reflects the diversity of its executive teams, staff and customers.”

Corelight is continuing to invest in hiring diverse talent across all levels of the business around the globe. More information on job openings can be found on the Corelight careers page.

About Corelight

Corelight provides security teams with network evidence so they can protect the world’s most critical organizations and companies. Corelight’s global customers include Fortune 500 companies, major government agencies, and large research universities. The company has received investment support from Accel, General Catalyst, Insight Partners and Osage University Partners. Based in San Francisco, Corelight is an open-core security company founded by the creators of Zeek, the widely-used network security technology. For more information, www.corelight.com. 

About Energy Impact Partners

Energy Impact Partners (EIP) is a global investment platform leading the transition to a sustainable energy future. EIP brings together entrepreneurs and the world's most forward-looking energy and industrial companies to advance innovation. With over $2.0 billion in assets under management, EIP invests globally across venture, growth, credit and infrastructure – and has a team of more than 50 professionals based in its offices in New York, San Francisco, Palm Beach, London, Cologne, and soon Oslo. For more information, visit www.energyimpactpartners.com.

About H.I.G. Growth Partners

H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global alternative investment firm with $45 billion of equity capital under management. H.I.G. Growth seeks to make both majority and minority investments in strong, growth-oriented businesses located throughout North America, Europe and Latin America. H.I.G. Growth Partners considers investments across all industries but focuses on certain high-growth sectors where it has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, healthcare, internet and media, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services. H.I.G. Growth strives to work closely with its management teams to serve as an experienced resource, providing broad-based strategic, operational, recruiting, and financial management services from a vast in-house team and a substantial network of third-party relationships. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.HIGgrowth.com.