RAD Security, a SaaS platform focused on addressing Kubernetes security risks and access control, has secured $6 million in seed funding. This financial backing comes from .406 Ventures, with additional investments from Vertex Ventures US and Gula Tech Adventures.
The capital will be utilized to enhance product development and expand sales and marketing endeavors. Significant contributions to RAD Security through angel investments and mentorship have been offered by Andrew Peterson of Signal Sciences, Carol Meyers formerly of Rapid7, Jim Manico of Manicode, and Grant Miller from Replicated.
Advancing Cloud-native Security
As businesses transition to cloud-native architectures, the complexity of managing containerized infrastructure has grown significantly.
The capital will be utilized to enhance product development and expand sales and marketing endeavors
Kubernetes has become a staple for developers managing microservices, with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation reporting that 5.6 million developers globally use it. Despite its benefits, Kubernetes has expanded the attack surface for enterprises, making security an urgent priority. Co-founder and CTO Jimmy Mesta identified a gap where developers might struggle with securing workloads due to limited security knowledge.
Enhancing Development Speed
RAD Security's platform allows teams to automatically detect clusters, resolve misconfigurations, and manage access rights efficiently in Kubernetes environments. Under the leadership of Brooke Motta, known for her expertise in market strategy, RAD Security aims to provide robust Kubernetes security without hindering development speed. “RAD Security empowers our development teams to own the security outcomes of our applications and infrastructure with minimal operational overhead,” stated Kim Green, CISO at World Market.
Chase Roberts of Vertex Ventures US will serve as a board observer
The demand for Kubernetes adoption is soaring, and ensuring security is becoming a critical challenge. Brooke Motta, Co-founder and CEO, expressed enthusiasm about introducing RAD Security’s approach to Kubernetes Detection and Response (KDR) and Kubernetes Infrastructure Entitlements Management (KIEM). Greg Dracon from .406 Ventures commented on RAD Security’s role in transforming how enterprises protect cloud-native infrastructures, emphasizing the importance of swift remediation of vulnerabilities.
Greg Dracon will join RAD Security’s board, bringing extensive experience in cybersecurity and technology investment. Ron Gula, President of Gula Tech Adventures, highlighted RAD Security’s commitment to security by design, which aligns with the needs of developers to swiftly address misconfigurations. Chase Roberts of Vertex Ventures US will serve as a board observer, supporting RAD Security's path to becoming a key player in the security sector.
Commitment to the Cloud-native Community
Zane Lackey of Signal Sciences noted the necessity of robust security controls in Kubernetes environments. RAD Security meets this need by enabling development and security teams to integrate at the code level. Chris Aniszcyk of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation welcomed RAD Security's involvement in the community’s efforts to advance cloud scalability and security.
RAD Security will host a webinar on March 1 at 10:00 a.m. PST, focusing on securing contemporary Kubernetes environments. Interested participants are encouraged to register to understand better how RAD Security addresses Kubernetes vulnerabilities.
RAD Security, an event-driven SaaS platform built to automatically remediate Kubernetes security risks and enforce least privilege access control across distributed cluster infrastructures, today announced it has raised $6 million in seed funding.
Led by .406 Ventures with participation from Vertex Ventures US and Gula Tech Adventures, this infusion of capital will enable RAD Security to accelerate product development and grow its sales and marketing efforts. Notably, the following individuals have contributed to RAD Security’s growth through angel investments and mentorship: Andrew Peterson, Founder, Signal Sciences; Carol Meyers, Former CMO, Rapid7; Jim Manico, Founder, Manicode, and Grant Miller, Founder, Replicated.
Enabling rapid development
As enterprises expand their cloud-native architectures, it becomes monumentally complex to manage and secure containerized infrastructure. Businesses adopt Kubernetes expecting it will support developers in managing microservices architectures, including the human and machine identities they are tasked with owning. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation estimates that 5.6 million developers worldwide use Kubernetes^1.
Kubernetes is transformational and enables rapid development. However, the rise of Kubernetes has increased the enterprise attack surface and made security the top concern for organizations moving towards containers in production, as well as the most in-demand skill today^2. Jimmy Mesta, Co-founder and CTO, realized early that at times Kubernetes could be more of a hindrance than a help as many developers lack the security depth and expertise to adequately secure their workloads.
Impacting development velocity
Informed by his work training Kubernetes early adopters, Mesta identified the best practices for Kubernetes security that still enabled companies to achieve fast, agile development without putting the enterprise environment or business bottom line at risk.
RAD Security gives development, security and operations teams the ability to automatically discover clusters, remediate misconfigurations, and securely manage access entitlements across any Kubernetes infrastructure. Led by Brooke Motta, a recognized high-growth, go-to-market leader, and Mesta, a pioneer in Kubernetes security, RAD Security is poised to be the security partner of choice for enterprises looking to adopt, scale, and secure Kubernetes across their business without impacting development velocity.
Undergoing exponential growth
“RAD Security empowers our development teams to own the security outcomes of our applications and infrastructure with minimal operational overhead. RAD Security's platform is a perfect fit for our existing DevOps workflows,” Kim Green, CISO at World Market and RAD Security customer.
“Kubernetes adoption is undergoing exponential growth and security is quickly becoming a primary concern as teams look to scale. I'm excited to bring the RAD Security platform to market and deliver a modern approach to Kubernetes Detection and Response (KDR) as well as Kubernetes Infrastructure Entitlements Management (KIEM),” said Brooke Motta, Co-founder and CEO.
Cybersecurity-focused venture investing
“RAD Security is defining a market space within Kubernetes security that is primed to explode in the coming years,'' said Greg Dracon, Partner, .406 Ventures. “We are thrilled to partner with Brooke and Jimmy and believe RAD Security will change the way enterprises secure their cloud-native infrastructure.”
Dracon will join the RAD Security board of directors, bringing with him over 25 years of cybersecurity-focused venture investing and technology operating. “RAD Security stood out for many reasons–not the least of which is because their solution exemplifies security by design, which is one of the key tenets we believe in at Gula Tech Adventures. Fast remediation allows developers to spot and fix misconfigurations and vulnerabilities and is critical when working to keep pace with the speed of innovation,” said Ron Gula, President, Gula Tech Adventures.
Cloud-native solution
"In this noisy and rapidly-growing Kubernetes environment, RAD Security’s cloud-native solution puts security on auto-pilot so developers can focus on application building,” said Chase Roberts, Principal at Vertex Ventures US. “We’re confident that RAD Security, with its strong leadership and sorely-needed technology, will produce a category-defining company that’s indispensable for security and software teams alike. We couldn’t be more excited to join them on this journey."
Roberts will join RAD Security as a board observer and will partner closely with the team to help them realize their mission. “Businesses cannot move applications to Kubernetes and expect to transform into a DevOps shop,” said Zane Lackey, Co-Founder of Signal Sciences and RAD Security angel investor. “Without the proper security controls, including least-privilege access and hardened cluster configurations, attackers can wreak havoc in an enterprise's cloud environment. RAD Security addresses these challenges head on by allowing development and security teams to meet at the source – the code itself.”
Modern Kubernetes environment
“We are thrilled to have RAD Security join and support the CNCF and Security TAG,” said Chris Aniszcyk, CTO of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. “The cloud native community requires the work of dedicated individuals and organizations to continue pushing the boundaries of scalability and security, and we are glad to count RAD Security in these ranks.”
RAD Security will be hosting a webinar on March 1 at 10:00 a.m. PST to discuss the fundamentals of securing a modern Kubernetes environment. Attendees will learn how RAD Security enables security teams to discover and remediate Kubernetes misconfigurations and vulnerabilities across any cloud. Register today.
