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Ex-NSA head's start-up raises $32.5m

By Reuters
US, 27 Oct 2015

Former US National Security Agency (NSA) director Keith Alexander's cyber security start-up, IronNet Cybersecurity, said yesterday it had raised $32.5 million in a "Series A" funding round led by Trident Capital Cybersecurity.

IronNet says its technology detects and mitigates anomalous activity in a company's cyber infrastructure using advanced behavioural models and analytics.

The funding will help accelerate growth and scale the launch of the IronNet product line, Alexander, the company's chief executive, said in the statement.

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers also participated in the funding round. A "Series A" funding is typically a start-up's first major round of capital financing.

Alexander founded the company in 2014 along with former top officials of the US Department of Defence, the National Counterterrorism Centre, and the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency.

IronNet aroused controversy last year after employing a senior US intelligence official to work part-time, a move NSA officials said risked a conflict of interest. Alexander later ended the deal.

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