For John Ackerly, his time in the Bush Administration made him think seriously about data’s importance—not only from a security and technological perspective, but a societal one.
“I was in the room as the Patriot Act rolled through,” said Ackerly, who served as associate director for the White House National Economic Council from 2001 to 2002. At the time, the government had gained access to a lot of the data that businesses and establishments collected about U.S. citizens. However, over time, norms have changed, he added: “This was before the cloud, before Gmail, and before we’d seen major impacts on trust in our society.”
Government service runs in the Ackerly family—Will, John’s brother, spent the better part of a decade at the NSA, developing Trusted Data Format (TDF), still used today by the U.S. intelligence community for the transfer of highly-sensitive data. John left government in 2004, and Will left in 2012, as the two set out to found data security company Virtru in 2012.
“The vision was always about securing all data everywhere,” said Ackerly. “Fast forward, and we’ve hung on fiercely to that mission. We have 6,700 customers today, but there were many times when people thought we were barking up the wrong tree.”
Virtru has recently raised a $50 million Series D, led by Iconiq, Fortune has exclusively learned. Other participants in the round include Bessemer Venture Partners, Foundry, and The Chertoff Group. The Series D values Virtru—whose customers include Equifax, Capital One, JPMorganChase, Salesforce, and the U.S. Department of Defense—at a $500 million valuation, doubling the company’s previous valuation. Though cybersecurity and data companies have both soared in terms of valuation and expectations in recent years, particularly within the AI boom, Virtru has been a slow burn, long-term story.
“We never maximize headline price,” said Ackerly. “We’ve always maximized the right deal at the right time to continue to build this company boulder by boulder, brick by brick.”
In Virtru’s early days, the company started with an email encryption product using Trusted Data Format. Eight years ago, Iconiq first invested in the company’s $37.5 million Series B, as Virtru started pursuing large enterprise and government opportunities. In the time since, Virtru has expanded its platform, looking to become a data security leader in an AI-driven landscape that’s made data more important than ever, said Iconiq partner Will Griffith.
“Data security is fundamental in a world that’s increasingly more connected and AI-enabled,” said Griffith. “The Holy Grail is to tag and manage data wherever it goes.”
I asked Ackerly how all his years working in data security have affected how he views data privacy—he tends to write lots of things down in journals, pen and paper, old school—and what privacy really means.
“The way I think about privacy is that it’s not secrecy,” said Ackerly. “Privacy is the power to selectively reveal yourself to the world. In this new era, that’s a foundationally important concept.”
See you Monday,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Venture Deals
- Harmonic, a Palo Alto-based AI lab specializing in mathematical superintelligence, raised $100 million in Series B funding. Kleiner Perkins led the round and was joined by Paradigm, Ribbit Capital and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures, and Charlie Cheever.
- Renasant Bio, a Berkeley-based biopharmaceutical company specializing in kidney disease treatment, raised $54.5 million in seed funding. 5AM Ventures co-led the round and was joined by Atlas Venture, OrbiMed and Qiming Ventures.
- RealSense, a Santa Clara-based AI-powered robotics company, raised $50 million in Series A funding. Intel Capital and MediaTek Innovation participated in the round.
- Vellum, a New York City-based AI development platform, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Leaders Fund led the round and was joined by Socii Capital and existing investors Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Pioneer Fund, and Eastlink Capital.
- Woba, a São Paulo-based flexible office subscription provider, raised $13.5 million in funding. Bewater led the round and was joined by Kaszek Ventures, Valor Capital, Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures, and Citrino Ventures.
- Knox, a New York City-based federal managed cloud provider, raised $6.5 million in seed funding. Felicis led the round and was joined by Ridgeline and FirsthandVC.
- BQP, a Syracuse, New York-based simulation software company, raised $4.8 million in seed funding. Monta Vista Capital led the round and was joined by Arc Ventures, Armory Square Ventures, Emergent Ventures, and more.
Private Equity
- Arclight Capital Partners agreed to acquire Middletown Energy Center, a Butler County, Ohio-based top natural gas fired power generation plant. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Apryse, backed by Thoma Bravo and Silversmith Capital Partners, acquired Scanbot SDK, a Bonn, Germany-based mobile scanning and data capture provider, and Accusoft, a Tampa-based document and imaging solutions company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- StormTrap, backed by PSP Capital, acquired Faircloth Skimmer, a Hillsborough, North Carolina-based manufacturer of surface drain dewatering devices. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Main Post Partners agreed to acquire a minority stake in Smoothie King, a Dallas-based retail smoothie chain. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Rehlko, backed by Platinum Equity, agreed to acquire The Wilmott Group, a Nottingham-based supplier of back-up power solutions in the United Kingdom. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Liberty Hall Capital Partners acquired Paxia, a Herndon, Virginia-based catering management software company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Bazaar Technologies, backed by Dragoneer Investment Group, acquired Keenu, a Karachi, Pakistan-based payment solution provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Datavant, backed by New Mountain Capital, acquired Aetion, a New York City-based healthcare technology company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Osceola Capital recapitalized GC Restoration, a Miami-based exterior structural restoration company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Exits
- GENDA acquired Player One Amusement Group, an Ontario-based seller, distributor, and operator of amusement equipment, from OpenGate Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Other
- Amplitude acquired Kraftful, a San Francisco-based AI-native Voice of Customer startup. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Alpaca acquired WealthKernel, a London-based wealthtech firm specializing in digital investment infrastructure and tax-advantaged products. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Torch, a leadership and organizational strategy intelligence platform, acquired Praxis Labs, a Brooklyn-based AI learning platform for businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.
IPOS
- Shoulder Innovations, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based medical technology company, filed to go public on the NYSE. Glide Healthcare, U.S. Venture Partners, Lightstone Ventures, cultivate(MD), Gilmartin Capital Fund, and Arboretum Ventures back the company.
FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS
- Propel Venture Partners, a San Francisco-based seed-stage venture firm, raised $100 million for its fifth fund, focused on early stage investments in the financial services ecosystem.
PEOPLE
- Sunna Ventures, a Palo Alto-based climate-focused venture capital firm, hired Luisa Sucre as a general partner. She was previously a principal at Collaborative Fund.
