Goldman Sachs Asset Management has invested $125 million in Fortress Information Security, a supply chain cybersecurity provider. A company valuation for Fortress was not disclosed.
Existing Fortress investors -- including co-founders Peter Kassabov and Alex Santos, ClearSky, First Analysis, American Electric Power, Caron Capital, KMMT, and Moquin Capital -- remain Fortress investors, the parties indicated.
Fortress: Supply Chain Security Business Details
Fortress, founded in 2015, is based in Orlando, Florida and has 218 employees listed on LinkedIn. The company's supply chain security platform was co-developed with electric utilities, and the platform now safeguards 40% of the U.S. power grid, substantial national defense-related assets, and critical manufacturing industries, Fortress indicated.
More than a software provider, Fortress also offers managed security services for validated assessments, findings resolution and program management, the company indicates. We're checking to see if Fortress is building partner programs for MSPs and MSSPs.
In a prepared statement about the Goldman Sachs relationship, Fortress Co-founder Peter Kassabov said:
“Supply chain cybersecurity is one of the most important challenges facing business and government leaders today. Supply chains represent a source of significant threats to the national economy and our ability to maintain our way of life. We started Fortress because we recognized major supply chain vulnerabilities in our country’s most critical industries. Many recent high-profile breaches have spawned a new wave of regulatory action in the U.S. that will likely expand for the foreseeable future.”
Added Fortress Co-founder Alex Santos:
“The Goldman Sachs investment validates the hard work of our employees and clients who have brought collaborative cybersecurity to life. This growth capital infusion will empower us to accelerate the execution of our vision of resilient supply chains.”
Concluded Will Chen, managing director within Goldman Sachs Asset Management:
“Fortress has established itself as a market leader in end-to-end supply chain cybersecurity solutions for U.S. critical industries and we look forward to scaling the company’s Asset-to-Vendor network, which provides significant value to critical infrastructure suppliers and customers. The depth and breadth of the Fortress platform are unmatched and we believe there is a meaningful opportunity to accelerate the expansion of the platform into compelling product adjacencies, including software and hardware bill of materials, workflow orchestration, and additional analytics and reporting capabilities.”
Goldman Sachs: MSP, MSSP and Cybersecurity Investments
Goldman Sachs remains an active investor across the MSP, MSSP and cybersecurity markets. In addition to the Fortress investment, key Goldman Sachs moves include:
- February 2022: Acquiring ImOn Communications.
- December 2021: Backing Microsoft Dynamics partner Advania.
- December 2020: Acquiring WhiteOps for fraud mitigation capabilities.
- October 2020: Investing in Deepwatch, an MSSP with MDR, endpoint security & vulnerability management services.
- August 2020: Investing in Infostretch, an IT consulting & digital transformation firm.
- September 2019: Investing in data protection software provider Acronis.
Goldman Sachs has also shed some cyber assets in recent years.
