Cybersecurity Startup Raises $102M for Crowdsourced Security Platform

Bugcrowd, an AI-powered cybersecurity startup, has raised $102 million in a strategic growth financing round for its crowdsourced security platform.

The “bug bounty” platform, which already boasts customers including OpenAI, T-Mobile and the U.S. government, offers money to individuals who can identify vulnerabilities in company codes and already has half a million hackers working to help companies identify bugs. 

Bugcrowd said it is responding to the increased sophistication of cyber attacks, which are often aided by AI. 

“In a landscape where threat actors increasingly deploy sophisticated AI techniques, Bugcrowd’s proactive approach to cybersecurity … empowers organizations to identify and remediate security vulnerabilities before malicious actors can exploit them,” the company wrote in a blog post. 

The latest investment round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from previous backers Rally Ventures and Costanoa Ventures. It brings Bugcrowd’s overall funding to just over $180 million.

Bugcrowd said the funds will be used to scale up the platform, expand its workforce and support expansion to markets across the U.S., as well as EMEA and APAC.

"We saw an opportunity to make a strategic investment in the crowdsourced security market, with the goal of fostering collaboration between customers and hackers to collectively tackle real threats and vulnerabilities," said Mark Crane, partner at General Catalyst. "In our view, the validation from customers, hackers, industry analysts and the broader cybersecurity community well positions Bugcrowd to be a category-leading company."

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