Verdasys Closes $12 Million Investment, Names Former McAfee GM Kenneth Levine CEO to Accelerate Endpoint Data Protection Against Insider & Cyber Threats
Waltham, MA (PRWEB) March 19, 2014 -- Verdasys, the leading provider of advanced data protection for endpoints for Global 2000 and mid-sized companies, today announced a $12 million investment led by existing investors GE Pension Trust, advised by GE Asset Management, and Fairhaven Capital of Cambridge, Mass., with a new, individual investment from Brookline Venture Partners where Kenneth Levine is a co-founding partner. Levine is the former Senior Vice President and General Manager of Security Management at McAfee, now Intel Security. He joins Verdasys as CEO, replacing Jim Ricotta, who served that role for the past three years.
Verdasys participates in the nearly $20 billion security software market. The company's flagship product, Digital Guardian, is known for its deep visibility and real-time control over user and malware activities on endpoints, as well as its proven scalability with almost two million endpoint agents deployed globally. Verdasys customers include seven of the top U.S. patent holders, numerous government agencies and companies protecting more than a trillion dollars worth of sensitive data, intellectual property and trade secrets. A leader in Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant for Content-Aware Data Loss Prevention, Digital Guardian is the only data protection solution to combine insider threat and cyber threat defense in an integrated platform, also available as a cloud-managed service. The new funds will be used to fuel Verdasys expansion into new markets and additional data protection use cases, and expand existing and new industry partnerships and channels.
Levine was previously CEO and Chairman at NitroSecurity, a Portsmouth, N.H., developer of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools acquired by McAfee in 2011. He served as General Manager of the McAfee Security Management Business Unit for two years with responsibility for the strategic direction of the business. Previously, he was a key member of the start-up team at Cabletron Systems. Inc., where he spent 15 years as Executive Vice President of Sales, growing revenue to nearly $2 billion. Levine founded Brookline Venture Partners in 2004 to invest in early-stage technology companies. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.
"Security has evolved from a discretionary insurance policy or a necessity mostly suited to companies with crown-jewel assets to protect to perhaps the most critical area of IT," said Levine. "Verdasys is uniquely capable of controlling literally any action on an endpoint and has been extraordinarily successful in preventing malicious data theft by both skilled insiders and advanced malware. Verdasys Digital Guardian is the technology behind the prevention of many of the types of security breaches we see having a devastating effect on organizations and their brands, business, government and customer relationships. I very much look forward to helping further build Verdasys' market presence during this exciting time in our industry.”
Levine will join the Verdasys board of directors, which also includes Mark Hatfield, Partner, Fairhaven Capital; Adam Stettner, Managing Director, Special Situations Fund; Hugh L. Warren, Professional Trustee, Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge; Anandh Hari, Vice President, Private Equity, GE Asset Management; and Michael Cristinziano, Corporate Vice President, Strategic Development, Citrix.
"Ken is a highly experienced technology leader with a track record for innovating products and accelerating sales growth. He has deep technology roots and can easily tap his network to build strategic alliances and partnerships with those who understand the fast moving security market and the challenges customers are facing, " said Fairhaven Capital's Hatfield. "We invested in Verdasys because we are confident in the exceptional value it brings to the IT security ecosystem. With this round and Ken at the helm we look forward to establishing Verdasys as the leader in data protection at the endpoint."
Shannon Downey, Verdasys, http://www.verdasys.com, 781-902-5655, [email protected]
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