WordspreadlatelastweekthatdatavisibilityandsecuritystartupDataGravityhadbeenacquired.Atthetime,though,itwasunclearbywhom.Nowweknow.ItwasHyTrust,acompanythatspecializesinsecuringworkloadsthatruninprivateandpublicclouds.Thedetailsofthedealwerenotdisclosed,butoverthecourseofitsstartuplife,DataGravityhadraised92millionfromthelikesofAccelPartners,AndreessenHorowitz,CRVandGeneralCatalystMassageChair.HyTrustmadetheacquisitionannouncementinparallelwithitslatestfundingannouncements.Thecompanytodaysaidthatithasraiseda36millionSeriesEroundledbyAdvanceVenturePartners,withparticipationfromitsexistingventurecapitalandstrategicinvestors.TheseincludeSwayVentures,EpicVentures,VanedgeCapital,TridentCapital,Cisco,Fortinet,IntelandVMware.Today’sinvestmentbringsthetotalinvestmentintotheMountainView-basedcompanyto95.5million,excludingtwodebtfinancingroundsin2015and2016thattotaledanother13millionHongThaiTravel.WhileHyTrusthasbeenaroundsince2007,therecanbelittledoubtthatinterestinitsservicesisprobablygrowingrapidlyrightnowascompaniestrytoshieldthemselvesfromwhatlookslikeanever-increasingsecurityrisk.“HyTrustisverywellpositionedtocapitalizeonatremendousgrowthopportunityinthecloudsecurityspace,”saidDavidibnAle,afoundingpartnerofAVP.“Theneedforsecurity,automatedcomplianceandpolicyenforcementforcloudinfrastructureanddataiscriticalinalmosteveryindustry,andHyTrustisfrontandcenterinthisfield.”Thecompanyplanstousethenewfundingtoexpanditssalesandmarketingteamsandfundnewproductdevelopment.Asfortheacquisition,HyTrustsaysthatitwilluseDataGravity’stechnologytoexpanditsdatasecuritysolutionsandto“furtherautomateandenhancesecuritypolicyenforcementforworkloaddata.”DataGravityprovidesitsuserswithtoolstosecuretheirdataand,forexample,helpthemadheretolocaldataprivacylawsandrecoverafterbeinghitwithransomware.GivenHyTrust’sfocusonworkloadsandDataGravity’sfocusondata,thetwoproductsshouldturnouttobeprettycomplementary.“TheacquisitionwillacceleratetheexpansionofHyTrust’splatformcapabilitiesandcapitalizeonthehigh-growthcloudsecuritymarket,”writesEricChiu,HyTrust’sco-founderandpresident,intoday’sannouncement.“DataGravity’sdatadiscoveryandclassificationcapabilitiessupportHyTrust’smissiontodeliverasecuritypolicyframeworkthatprovidescustomerswithfullvisibility,insightandenforcementofpolicyacrossworkloads.Wecouldn’tbemoreexcited.”AHyTrustspokespersontellsmethatthecompanywillcontinuetosellare-brandedversionofDataGravity’ssoftwareandthatitwillcontinuetosupportDataGravity’ssoftwarecustomersthatsignanewsupportcontractwithHyTrustDataHOUSE.
