Following a short pause in 2022, 2023 proved to be a difficult year for ransomware. As of July 2023, victims have paid ransomware organizations a total of well over $400 million, according to statistics from bitcoin tracking company Chainalysis. Meanwhile, Statista estimates that 72% of firms will be impacted by ransomware attacks by 2023.
So it’s not surprising that, despite a general decline in VC cybersecurity investments, anti-ransomware technologies are still seen as a good investment. According to Mordor Intelligence, the ransomware prevention software industry might rise 15% over the next five years.
Halcyon, for example, is enjoying a boom after raising $44 million in a Series A round last April. The business has now secured a smaller Series B tranche for $40 million, bringing its total funding to $84 million.
Co-founder and CEO Jon Miller said that Halcyon did not need to obtain another round of funding so fast but recognized the potential in establishing relationships with new venture capital firms, notably Bain Capital Ventures (who led the Series B).
“This latest round will help acquire and retain crucial engineering talent to expand our product lines, enhance and build out our service offerings, and bolster our sales and marketing efforts to help gain traction in a crowded industry,” Miller said in an interview via email. “In short, the funds will be used to accelerate growth in all aspects.”
After working at companies that Blackberry (Cylance) and Optiv (Accuvant) eventually acquired, Miller and Ryan Smith co-founded Halcyon a few years ago. Halcyon now provides a suite of solutions to resist ransomware assaults, including anti-tamper measures, anti-data exfiltration software, and what Miller refers to as “key material capture.”
Miller believes that Halcyon can interrupt ransomware assaults and, in certain circumstances, decrypt infected devices in part by using trained AI models.
“The Halcyon platform is built to keep businesses operational even in the event of a widespread ransomware incident,” Miller said in a statement. “Detection and prevention logic updates are typically manual and performed monthly—or even quarterly.” This is an inefficient and infrequent method for keeping up with attackers in a dynamic and ever-changing threat environment. In a couple of minutes, Halcyon gives an autonomous solution that continually corrects itself against a false negative result.”
Miller sure speaks a big game. To be fair, Halcyon has customers to show for it. According to Miller, the business currently has over 100 “enterprise-level” companies as customers, in addition to “state-level” school systems.
But what about the rivalry? After all, many vendors, from startups to established players, provide anti-ransomware solutions. Miller’s response? Not so, since he feels Halcyon’s unique emphasis on prevention and repair distinguishes them from the competition.
“Halcyon is the only company solely focused on battling ransomware with layers for both prevention and resilience,” Miller said in a statement. “Unlike most industry incumbents that are simply repurposing anti-malware solutions, Halcyon was designed from day one to defeat ransomware, and the company’s singular focus on this problem makes them significantly more effective at combating it.”
If Halcyon’s fortunes continue, the business intends to more than quadruple its 75-person workforce by the end of 2024.
