AI cybersecurity startup ReliaQuest raises $500M in funding at $3.4B valuation

AI-powered cybersecurity startup ReliaQuest just closed a new funding round of more than $500 million, pushing its valuation to $3.4 billion. The round was led by EQT, KKR, and FTV Capital, with backing from longtime investors Ten Eleven Ventures and Finback Investment Partners.

This latest round comes at a strong moment for the company. Since its last raise in 2020, ReliaQuest has more than quadrupled its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), which recently topped $300 million, and is growing at 30% year-over-year—all while remaining profitable.

Founded in 2007 by Brian Murphy, ReliaQuest has grown from a bootstrapped startup into a global player helping large enterprises manage cybersecurity operations more efficiently. Its platform, GreyMatter, connects with more than 200 different tools, giving security teams better visibility while automating some of their most time-consuming tasks.

Redefining Cybersecurity with Agentic AI

The funding will go toward international expansion and pushing forward innovations in Agentic AI, a key part of the GreyMatter platform. These AI models are designed to operate with some autonomy, helping customers respond to threats in minutes instead of hours. According to the company, teams using GreyMatter are completing threat investigations 20x faster and with 30% more accuracy, containing threats in under five minutes.

“Everything we have done at ReliaQuest has always been driven by the problem we solve for our customers. Enterprise security teams have more data in more places than ever before, and the speed of the threat is rapidly increasing. CISOs need a way to contain threats within minutes without added cost or technical overhead, leveraging the latest innovations in Agentic AI,” said Brian Murphy, ReliaQuest founder and CEO.

Murphy added, “This new investment is a key step along our growth trajectory as a company, but most importantly it will allow us to deliver better security outcomes for even more CISOs around the world.”

ReliaQuest’s pitch has clearly resonated with investors.

“By enriching GreyMatter with AI and automation capabilities, ReliaQuest has accelerated ahead of the pack, and now stands out as one of the only software vendors capable of managing security operations for the most complex enterprise environments,” said Kirk Lepke, Partner at EQT Growth.

KKR’s Stephen Shanley added, “Over the years, the company has transformed with its leading AI-driven software platform, a relentless focus on innovation, and a unique company culture.”

Kyle Griswold at FTV Capital, who has backed the company for nearly a decade, praised the team’s “exceptional ability to innovate and execute” and said the platform is “uniquely positioned to empower customers with a best-of-breed approach towards cybersecurity, improving automation, operational efficiencies and, most critically, results.”

As threats grow more sophisticated, so does the need for faster response times. ReliaQuest’s 2024 Cyber-Threat Report shows attackers can now move laterally across systems in under 48 minutes. That leaves little room for delay, and it’s clear the company is betting that AI—specifically Agentic AI—is the answer.

With a fresh half-billion in the bank, ReliaQuest is doubling down on that bet.