Horizon3.ai, a prominent cybersecurity firm specializing in autonomous penetration testing, has successfully secured $100 million in a recent funding round, with $73 million already confirmed, as indicated in a recent SEC filing. This substantial investment was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), marking NEA’s second significant foray into the cybersecurity sector within a month, following their $108 million investment in Veza.
Founded in 2019, Horizon3.ai has rapidly emerged as a leader in the cybersecurity landscape. The company was established by a team of former U.S. Special Operations cyber operators, entrepreneurs, and cybersecurity experts. CEO and co-founder Snehal Antani, who previously served as CTO at Splunk and led teams within the U.S. Military’s Joint Special Operations Command, brings a wealth of experience to the firm.
The company’s flagship product, NodeZero™, is an autonomous penetration testing platform that empowers organizations to continuously identify, remediate, and validate exploitable vulnerabilities. By simulating real-world attack scenarios, NodeZero™ provides a comprehensive view of potential attack paths, enabling organizations to proactively strengthen their defenses.
In August 2023, Horizon3.ai raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Craft Ventures, with participation from SignalFire, bringing the total fundraising to $78.5 million at that time. The recent $100 million funding round significantly boosts the company’s financial resources, positioning it to further enhance its product offerings and expand its market presence.
The demand for autonomous penetration testing solutions like NodeZero™ has been on the rise, as organizations seek proactive measures to secure their infrastructures against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Horizon3.ai’s innovative approach has garnered a diverse customer base spanning over 50 industries and 25 countries, including sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, education, and local government.
The company’s growth trajectory has been impressive, with a 101% year-over-year revenue increase and exceeding 150% of Q4 pipeline targets in FY25. This momentum is further validated by over 100,000 autonomous penetration tests completed to date, solidifying NodeZero™ as the industry’s most scalable security validation platform.
Horizon3.ai’s partner-first strategy has been instrumental in its rapid growth. By leveraging an extensive partner network, the company has made offense-driven security accessible to organizations of all sizes. This approach has accelerated adoption across industries and solidified Horizon3.ai’s leadership in autonomous security solutions.
The company’s commitment to innovation and excellence has been recognized with its inclusion in the Fortune Cyber 60 list for two consecutive years. This accolade underscores Horizon3.ai’s impressive growth, marked by a 15x revenue increase over the past three years, a customer base of over 2,000, more than 80,000 tests conducted within production networks, and over 1.3 million impacts resulting from discovered exploitable attack paths in real-world environments.
With the new funding, Horizon3.ai plans to integrate penetration testing, Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), and detection engineering into a comprehensive security platform. This integration aims to enable customers to proactively secure their enterprises by continuously identifying and addressing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers.
The company’s recent achievements also include receiving FedRAMP authorization, enabling it to offer its solutions to federal agencies. This milestone reflects Horizon3.ai’s commitment to meeting the highest standards in cybersecurity and expanding its reach to a broader range of organizations.
As cyber threats continue to evolve, Horizon3.ai remains dedicated to providing organizations with the tools and insights needed to stay ahead of attackers. By continuously innovating and expanding its offerings, the company aims to empower organizations to proactively secure their environments and maintain a resilient cybersecurity posture.
