Private Equity Invests in MDR Cybersecurity: Newlight Partners Backs Pondurance -

Niloof Razi Howe, chairman, Pondurance — Niloofar Razi Howe, chair, Pondurance

Private equity firm Newlight Partners has invested in Pondurance, a provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) cybersecurity services. Moreover, Pondurance has hired RSA Security veteran Doug Howard as CEO, and entrepreneur/investor Niloofar Razi Howe joins as chair of the board. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Pondurance’s founders and existing leadership team, including Ron Pelletier, Landon Lewis, Dustin Hutchison and Cathy Iacobucci, will remain with the business.

Pondurance, led by Howard, is expected to pursue organic growth along with merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities. The company also has been building out an MDR partner program for MSPs since 2019.

Newlight Partners Invests In Pondurance: Executive Perspectives

In a prepared statement about the investment, Adam Stulberger, partner at Newlight, said:

“Pondurance is a deeply trusted cybersecurity services firm that is extremely well poised for growth in a rapidly evolving market as customers address ransomware, compliance and digital transformation. We are excited to work alongside Doug and Niloo to build an enduring business, expand its capabilities and geographic footprint, and execute on the numerous opportunities we’ve identified for organic growth and strategic M&A.”

Added Howard:

"Never before have MDR services been so important to such a vast set of customers. Pondurance’s intelligent threat detection and response platform and growing team of talented experts make an unbeatable combination. We are eager to leverage Newlight’s resources and expertise to accelerate our ambitious growth plans and deliver higher levels of customer value.

Concluded Howe:

"Pondurance unites the newest innovations in advanced detection and intelligence with the deep talents of world class analysts. We will meet this important moment for our customers, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it."

MDR Mergers, Acquisitions and Investments

MDR-focused cybersecurity companies continue generate steady merger, acquisition and investment activity.

Key deals have included:

August 2020: Blackpoint Cyber raised Series B funding.
August 2020: ReliaQuest, an MSSP that developed its own cybersecurity software platform, raised more than $300 million from KKR.
July 2020: Haven Cyber Technologies raised €5.7 million (approximately $6.4 million) from investment firm C5 Capital.
January 2020: Abacode, a Top 200 MSSP, raised $4.85 million in Series A funding to expand its sales, security operations center (SOC) & project execution teams. Ballast Point Ventures leads the round.
July 2019: Digital Hands, an MSSP & security operations center-as-a-service (SOCaaS) provider that supports MSPs, raised $15 million in private equity.
June 2019: Expel raised $40 million to expand managed treat monitoring, investigation, Response and hunting.
April 2019: Deepwatch, an MSSP spin-out from GuidePoint Security, raised $23 million to accelerate cloud-based SecOps, machine learning & analytics R&D.
February 2019: Anitian, a Top 200 MSSP that evolved from a VAR business, raised $11 million in Series A funding. CEO Andrew Plato bets on Sherlock cloud compliance platform.