FTV Capital acquires Security Compass

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By Ted Liu

Security Compass, a leading provider of enterprise DevSecOps software solutions, has raised undisclosed amount of growth equity funding from FTV Capital.

The investment will enable Security Compass to enhance its position as a global leader in empowering organizations to achieve agility at scale by streamlining software risk management. By leveraging FTV’s deep expertise and access to its Global Partner Network®, Security Compass will further enhance its solutions portfolio and accelerate its planned global expansion.

CIBC Innovation Banking, the technology and software lending practice at CIBC, was the sole lender in providing financing for this transaction.

As part of the transaction, FTV Capital partner Liron Gitig and principal Richard Liu, will join Security Compass founder and former CEO Nish Bhalla on the Security Compass board of directors.

Security Compass has also appointed Rohit Sethi as the new CEO. Sethi, formerly COO, is Security Compass’ first hire almost 13 years ago.

Toronto based Security Compass enables organizations to achieve agility at scale by streamlining software risk management without slowing down their business. At the core of the company’s solution is its policy-to-execution software platform, SD Elements, which translates policies into actionable tasks for technical teams. Security Compass’ adaptive Training and strategic Advisory Services enable cybersecurity preparedness and help organizations better manage compliance. Security Compass provides solutions to some of the world’s largest financial organizations and tech companies.

With offices in the United States and India, Security Compass has over 220 employees.

photo credit: Security Compass

News Release

Security Compass Secures Growth Equity Funding from FTV Capital

Transformative Growth Under Founder Nish Bhalla’s Leadership Sets Security Compass Up for Continued Success and Global Expansion

January 16, 2020 07:20 AM Eastern Standard Time

TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Security Compass, a leading provider of enterprise DevSecOps software solutions, today announced it has secured growth equity funding from FTV Capital, a sector-focused growth equity investment firm. This investment will enable Security Compass to enhance its position as a global leader in empowering organizations to achieve agility at scale by streamlining software risk management. By leveraging FTV’s deep expertise and access to its Global Partner Network®, Security Compass will further enhance its solutions portfolio and accelerate its planned global expansion.

To capitalize on the market opportunities presented by this partnership, Security Compass has appointed Rohit Sethi as the new CEO. Sethi, formerly COO and Security Compass’ first hire almost 13 years ago, has been an integral part of the organization and the creation of SD Elements. CFO David Rea will take on the combined position of CFO and COO. As part of the transaction, FTV Capital partner Liron Gitig and principal Richard Liu, will join Security Compass founder Nish Bhalla on the Security Compass board of directors.

“Security Compass is thrilled to align with a world-class partner like FTV Capital. We are excited for the opportunity to tap into their expertise at scaling high growth companies and their deep understanding of this market opportunity,” said Security Compass CEO, Rohit Sethi. “The strong trends towards agile development in DevOps, increased focus on application security and on improving risk management are on course for collision. Security Compass is uniquely positioned to help organizations address the inherent conflicts. With FTV’s investment, we’re poised to accelerate our growth while maintaining the culture of excellence we’ve worked so hard to build.”

According to the 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report, web applications continue to be the leading cause of security breaches. As security and privacy regulations such as Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA) and FedRAMP continue to emerge, organizations are faced with having to compromise their agility. Security Compass helps drive secure applications to the market in a timely fashion by making it simple for development teams to manage the security considerations of their entire technology stack – both the software itself, as well as the deployment and configuration requirements of the server and operating system.

“We’ve seen first-hand that security and risk management continue to be critical pain points for the financial institutions in our Global Partner Network,” said FTV Capital partner Liron Gitig. “Security Compass’ SD Elements solution is uniquely focused on the software stack, enabling DevOps at scale by helping enterprises develop secure, compliant code from the start. SD Elements provides both engineering and non-engineering teams with a holistic solution for managing software security requirements in an efficient and reliable manner, alleviating meaningful friction in the software development life cycle, accelerating release cycles and improving business results. We are excited to work with the Security Compass management team in its next phase of global growth as a trusted information security partner.”

Over 200 enterprise customers now use Security Compass’ solutions to manage the risk of tens of thousands of applications. Founder and former CEO, Bhalla said, “Security Compass’ immense growth can be traced to our unique combined focus on creating an outstanding customer experience and retaining exceptional employees. It is the people at Security Compass who are the force behind our success. Our culture and values have attracted and retained top talent, which has led Security Compass to be recognized as the fourteenth best place to work in Canada. While I am stepping away from the CEO function, my heart will always be with the 220+ people who have helped build Security Compass to what it is today. I look forward to this next chapter that will be created by all of them.”

CIBC Innovation Banking, the technology and software lending practice at CIBC, was the sole lender in providing financing for this transaction.

For more information about Security Compass, please visit https://www.securitycompass.com/.

About FTV Capital

FTV Capital is a growth equity investment firm that has raised over $2.7 billion to invest in high-growth companies offering a range of innovative solutions in three sectors: enterprise technology & services, financial services and payments & transaction processing. FTV’s experienced team leverages its domain expertise and proven track record in each of these sectors to help motivated management teams accelerate growth. FTV also provides companies with access to its Global Partner Network®, a group of the world’s leading enterprises and executives who have helped FTV portfolio companies for two decades. Founded in 1998, FTV Capital has invested in over 100 portfolio companies. FTV has offices in San Francisco and New York. For more information, visit www.ftvcapital.com.

About Security Compass

Security Compass enables organizations to achieve agility at scale by streamlining software risk management without slowing down their business. At the core of the company’s solution is its policy-to-execution software platform, SD Elements, which translates policies into actionable tasks for technical teams. Security Compass’ adaptive Training and strategic Advisory Services enable cybersecurity preparedness and help organizations better manage compliance. Security Compass provides solutions to some of the world’s largest financial organizations and tech companies. The company is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in the United States and India. Follow Security Compass on Twitter @securitycompass or visit https://www.securitycompass.com/.

Contacts

Dan Warren
dan@golaunchtech.com
443-977-9638

Alexa Ottenstein
Prosek Partners for FTV Capital
Pro-ftvcapital@prosek.com
646-818-9051