Tech

Malwarebytes secures $50 million cash injection from Fidelity

The company plans to use the investment to expand operations and hire fresh engineering talent.

Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer Jan. 22, 2016 at 2:38 a.m. PT

Malwarebytes has secured $50 million in funding from investment firm Fidelity Management and Research.

The cash injection, announced on Thursday, was raised in a Series B funding round.

Malwarebytes intends to use the cash to hire new engineers and security specialists, enhance research into the cybersecurity threat landscape, and as a means to advance sales and product initiatives.

The fresh investment follows sales figures released by Malwarebytes last year. In December, the antivirus provider said the company had reached over 100 percent growth in 2015 annual revenue, and enterprise product sales had doubled.

In addition, the company is currently enjoying its 31st consecutive positive cash flow quarter.

Security

At the time of the announcement, Marcin Kleczynski, CEO of Malwarebytes, said that while the company is best known for consumer products, the fastest growth was experienced in the enterprise realm, where "companies have realized that 'removal and remediation' must be a part of your security arsenal."

It is likely that at least part of the new funding round will go towards enhancing these enterprise sales. If Malwarebytes can carve itself a strong position in the corporate market, this bodes well for the firm as a whole in a time where companies are finding themselves more and more often targeted by cyberattackers -- and where security breaches can be devastating both to reputation and the balance sheet.

Kleczynski commented:

"Malware is an epidemic attacking businesses and governments worldwide, as evidenced by recent high-profile breaches.

Our unique business model has allowed us to attain rapid growth while driving consistent profitability and cash flow. We will continue to hire more talented engineers to help us fight malware and accelerate Malwarebytes' strategic sales, marketing and future product initiatives in our fast growing enterprise business."

Boston-based Fidelity manages 453 funds and supports total mutual fund assets of $1577.5 billion.

In 2015, Malwarebytes products were downloaded over 500 million times. The firm claims that Malwarebytes products collectively detect over 500,000 per hour.