Carbon Black is a private cybersecurity firm headquartered in Waltham, Mass.
The software vendor was originally founded as Bit9, which acquired Carbon Black in 2014. Two years later, the firm rebranded itself as Carbon Black.
Since launch, the SaaS leader has raised over $191 million in eleven fundraising rounds, with backers including Sequoia Capital, Blackstone, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Atlas Ventures and 406 Ventures.
Its data-focused approach has worked to differentiate it from other security vendors in the increasingly crowded market. Carbon Black’s cloud-based platform synthesizes massive amounts of endpoint data in real time and applies advanced “streaming analytics” that allow it to predict and prevent attacks that remain hidden within systems. The firm indicates that it can spot and kill attack methods that have never been seen before.
The sixteen-year-old company provides next-gen endpoint security solutions to over 30 of the Fortune 100 and more than 3,700 organizations around the world. Its customer base includes Silicon Valley leaders across search, social media, transportation, and hospitality, alongside industry leaders in finance, manufacturing, retail and government.
President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Morley has been with the firm since 2007, leading the company from a startup to a leader in its market. Morley oversaw the merger of Bit9 with Carbon Black in 2014, which helped the firm bolster its offerings and expand its global footprint. Carbon Black now employs nearly 800 people.
Before Carbon Black, Morley was president and CEO of Imprivata Corp., a provider of authentication, access management and secure communication solutions. Previously, he held leadership positions at various venture-backed software companies, including three that had successful IPOs.
Earlier this year, the cybersecurity company appointed a chief cybersecurity officer as the firm is potentially gearing up for an IPO. Tom Kellermann, who formerly held the same title at Japanese competitor Trend Micro, most recently served as CEO and co-founder of cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm Strategic Cyber Ventures. The Washington, D.C.-based company, which is backed by NYC-based hedge fund Hudson Bay Capital, has invested millions in startups such as TrapX, E8 Security, ID DataWeb and Polarity.
While in 2016 the Wall Street Journal reported that Carbon Black had filed confidential paperwork for an IPO, the Information suggested earlier this year that the subscription service company has been in talks with possible acquirers such as IBM, VMware and Microsoft.
