GitGuardian grabs $12 million Series A to help companies detect loose secrets in code

GitGuardian, the Paris-based cybersecurity startup specialising in finding company “secrets” in online code, has raised $12 million in Series A funding, led by Balderton Capital. Scott Chacon, co-founder of GitHub, and Solomon Hykes, founder of Docker also participated in the round.

Founded in 2017, GitGuardian’s real-time monitoring platform helps enterprise teams manage data leaks to prevent breaches that could cause millions of dollars in potential damages. Originally built with public GitHub in mind, GitGuardian is now able to monitor secrets that are released in internal systems, too, such as private code repositories or messaging systems.

The technology works by linking developers registered on GitHub with their companies and scanning the content of over 2.5 million commits (or code revisions) per day in search for signs of company secrets. These secrets are detected through a combination of algorithms, including sophisticated pattern matching techniques and machine learning.

"Through our detection and alerting services, GitGuardian has already supported global government organisations, more than 100 Fortune 500 companies and 400,000 individual developers to date. Currently, every company with software development activities is concerned about secrets spreading within the organisation, and in the worst case, to the public space. As a company with so much sensitive information at hand, we have built a culture of unconditional secrecy at our core," explained Jérémy Thomas, co-founder and CEO.

The fresh funding will go to expanding its customer base, especially in the US. Around 75 percent of its clients are currently based in the US, with the remainder being based in Europe, and the funding will continue to drive this expansion. GitGuardian has also developed a monitoring platform for private sites.

Suranga Chandratillake, Partner at Balderton Capital said: “The modern software development process is remarkable in its ability to allow large, distributed teams to deliver complex systems quickly. However, the very connectivity and openness this depends on has left many companies unwittingly exposed. Rather than encumber technology organisations with limiting compliance procedures, GitGuardian allows the modern enterprise to develop code quickly and how it wants to, but with automated visibility and protection over how data, credentials and other sensitive information is used, moved and shared. We are delighted to be joining Jeremy and Eric on their mission to build a platform that allows more people to build more code faster and more safely.”