Kasada raises $23M to accelerate global momentum combating online fraud

Kasada announced $23 million in Series C funding, bringing total investment in the company to $39 million.

The funding round was led by new investor StepStone Group (which recently acquired venture capital platform Greenspring Associates), with participation from existing investors Ten Eleven Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Reinventure (Westpac’s venture capital arm), Our Innovation Fund, and Turnbull & Partners.

Since its Series B funding in mid-2020, Kasada has grown its revenue by 230%. This was achieved by expanding its go-to-market capabilities, defense platform, and operations to capitalize on demand for its cybersecurity solution within the United States. Kasada now protects more than $20 billion in eCommerce annually and stops over 5 billion monthly requests left undetected by legacy systems. Additionally, more than 85% of customers worked with other bot mitigation providers prior to engaging with Kasada’s modern approach.

Recent highlights include:

• Grew its customer base by over 80% since Series B, including the addition of new Fortune 50, S&P/ASX 50, and Russell 1000 customers.
• Increased overall headcount by 140% through investments in development and U.S.-focused sales, pre-sales, marketing, and customer support capabilities.
• Achieved 97% customer retention since inception, demonstrating the lasting value Kasada’s solution provides for customers – and the company’s dedication to customer service.
• Launched V2 of its platform, incorporating major defense upgrades, which represent the R&D work from the past 18 months. The company also achieved SOC 2 compliance.
• Received recognition from several industry sources.

Cybercriminals are increasingly using bots to launch automated threats such as credential stuffing, web scraping, carding, and inventory hoarding against online businesses. Since the beginning of the pandemic, two-thirds of companies have seen more frequent bot attacks, while 56% have experienced new types of bot-driven fraud. The first generation of anti-bot defenses are no longer viable as bot operators understand how these defenses work and can easily evade them.

Kasada has taken a fundamentally different approach to bot mitigation, designed to overcome the challenges faced by traditional methods. The company’s modern anti-bot solution provides immediate and long-lasting protection by frustrating and striking back at attackers. It stops automated attacks in real-time, before they are ever allowed to enter an organization’s infrastructure.

This is bolstered with data analysis and machine learning (ML) from billions of bot interactions. Unlike first-generation services, Kasada’s platform doesn’t rely on configuring rules, assigning risk scores, or the use of CAPTCHAs. The platform adapts to new approaches and attacks, as bot operators constantly evolve the tactics they use against websites, mobile apps, and APIs.

“Businesses are tired of bot mitigation solutions that are difficult to operate, time-consuming to maintain, and cannot keep up with the latest tools bot operators use,” said Sam Crowther, founder and CEO of Kasada. “At Kasada, we’ve set out to make application security much easier to implement and use, while also improving its effectiveness. We’ve ensured that security doesn’t get in the way of the customer experience, by eliminating friction such as CAPTCHAs that hurt online conversions – and your brand.”

The company plans to use the Series C funding to further accelerate its sales in the U.S., and grow its development, support, and marketing departments to capitalize on the increasing demand for its simple and effective approach.

“Kasada services translate into a great experience for Sydney Opera House customers, without interrupting their experience, or introducing unnecessary friction,” said Nic Boling, Chief Technology Officer at Sydney Opera House. “We have confidence that humans, not bots, are buying tickets to our events.”

“Kasada has demonstrated impressive growth while expanding beyond Australia, with momentum among enterprise customers in the eCommerce, hospitality, travel, fintech, online gaming, and Internet service industries,” added Hunter Somerville, Partner at StepStone Group. “The effect bots have on an organization’s profitability and customer experience has become a C-level concern. Kasada has raised the expectations of what an anti-bot solution should be.”