• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechChanging Face of Security

Amazon and Goldman Sachs Are Investing Millions in This Cybersecurity Startup

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 1, 2016, 12:01 AM ET
Amazon & Sinking Ship Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Celebration
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 29: A general view of atmosphere at Amazon & Sinking Ship Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Celebration on April 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)Todd Williamson—Getty Images for Amazon Studios

Ionic Security, a data protection startup based in Atlanta, said it raised $45 million in a venture capital funding from Amazon (AMZN), Goldman Sachs (GS), and hedge fund Hayman Capital on Wednesday.

The round brings the company’s total funding raised to $122 million to date. Existing investors also participated in the round, including GV (née Google (GOOG) Ventures), Icon Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Meritech Capital Partners, and Tech Operators.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Adam Ghetti, founder and chief executive officer of Ionic, originally conceived of the idea for the company as a kind anti-Facebook (FB), allowing him full control of the data he shared on the social network. The five-year-old startup now provides companies with tailored controls that allow employees to protect corporate and personal data through encryption and layered levels of access. (You can read more about the concept and history in this Fortune story from last year.)

Ghetti told Fortune on a call that his company has roughly doubled in size to 200 employees in the past year, adding headcount primarily in areas like product development and project management. Next up, Ghetti said he plans to “double down on engaging the external development community,” designing tools that will allow application developers to more easily build customized products and integrations using the company’s software.

For more on cybersecurity startup funding, watch:

“We can throw out SDKs and say, ‘Good luck!'” Ghetti says, using a common acronym for software development kits. “Or we can do a good job supporting them.” Those relationships allow the company to gain footholds in areas and with businesses that the company doesn’t have official partnerships with, like the popular office chat app Slack.

Goldman, now an investor, was one of Ionic’s earliest customers when it began using its encryption product nearly two years ago. “We believe that Ionic’s platform addresses one of the biggest unsolved security problems for large enterprises today: how to enable employees to utilize modern communication and collaboration platforms while also maintaining adequate controls and security standards,” said Ward Waltemath, Goldman’s managing director and head of software investment, in a statement.

Amazon Web Services also struck a partnership with Ionic on top of the funding deal, integrating its offerings with the company’s cloud infrastructure. “Internet-scale, high-assurance data protection and control services are critical to the success of a cloud- and mobile-enabled ecosystem,” said Stephen Schmidt, chief information security officer at AWS. “The goal of our collaboration with Ionic is to deliver these services to any organization, at scale with provisioning, management ease and streamlined procurement via AWS Marketplace.”

Ghetti mentioned that, based on his own experience and accounts he has heard from others, “things are starting to get dicier in the fundraising environment.”

“We have never taken the highest priced term sheet offered to us,” Ghetti added. “We’ve taken the one that the investors behind term sheet are most aligned to where we are, where we’re going, and how plan to get there.”

As the once-booming cybersecurity venture capital sector cools, other entrepreneurs may not be so lucky.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

NewslettersCIO Intelligence
WPP’s CTO says AI is reshaping advertising. But creative judgment needs to remain in human hands
By John KellJanuary 21, 2026
11 hours ago
Future of Workskills
‘AI adoption is accelerating, but confidence is collapsing’: The more workers use AI, the less they trust it. Baby boomers show a 35% drop
By Jake AngeloJanuary 21, 2026
12 hours ago
US President Donald Trump jokes with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (L) as he hosts tech leaders for a dinner in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on September 4, 2025.
AIMeta
Trump says Mark Zuckerberg showed him a ‘Manhattan-sized’ AI data center
By Eva RoytburgJanuary 21, 2026
12 hours ago
Illustration of Claude 4 open on a smartphone
AIAnthropic
Anthropic rewrites Claude’s guiding principles—and entertains the idea that its AI might have ‘some kind of consciousness or moral status’
By Beatrice NolanJanuary 21, 2026
12 hours ago
Jensen Huang
SuccessCareers
Six-figure plumbing and construction jobs are coming, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says—as AI data centers need to be built
By Preston ForeJanuary 21, 2026
13 hours ago
huang
InvestingDavos
Jensen Huang says AI bubble fears are dwarfed by ‘the largest infrastructure buildout in human history’
By Nick Lichtenberg and Beatrice NolanJanuary 21, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
AI
Elon Musk says that in 10 to 20 years, work will be optional and money will be irrelevant thanks to AI and robotics
By Sasha RogelbergJanuary 19, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, January 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJanuary 20, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Jamie Dimon says he’d have no issue paying higher taxes if it actually went to people who need it. Right now it just goes to the Washington ‘swamp’
By Eleanor PringleJanuary 21, 2026
12 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Jamie Dimon tells Davos: ‘You didn’t do a particularly good job making the world a better place’
By Eleanor PringleJanuary 21, 2026
13 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Scott Bessent insists he’s ‘not concerned at all’ about investors selling America—despite the fact it’s unraveled tariffs before
By Eleanor PringleJanuary 21, 2026
17 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Billionaire Marc Andreessen spends 3 hours a day listening to podcasts and audiobooks—that’s nearly an entire 24-hour day each week
By Preston ForeJanuary 20, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.