Chainguard Banks $280M for Global Open-Source Security Play

A supply chain security startup led by an ex-Google Cloud engineer raised $280 million to hire sales and marketing professionals across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

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Seattle-area Chainguard said growth financing from General Catalyst is directly tied to customer acquisition, allowing previous funds to be redirected toward innovation and product development. Chief Financial Officer Eyal Bar said the money will bolster the firm’s evolution from a single-product container security company into a multi-product platform that includes VMs and secure open source libraries.

“If you think about the need in capital, it’s not always about when you really need it, but it’s about your ability to raise it on the right terms,” Bar told Information Security Media Group. “The most interesting thing about this kind of capital is that it gives you the flexibility. And that’s why, for us, it was really important right now to go with that, and support our go-to-market in the next few years.”

Chainguard dates to 2021, employs 592 people, and has raised $892 million across six rounds of outside funding, having most recently in April completed a $356 million Series D funding round at a $3.5 billion valuation led by Kleiner Perkins and IVP. Prior to founding Chainguard, CEO Dan Lorenc spent nine years working on the infrastructure behind the Google Cloud platform (see: Chainguard Raises $356M to Protect Open-Source Supply Chain).

Why Chainguard Needs Boots on the Ground Around the World

The latest growth financing is non-dilutive and performance-based, meaning that capital is unlocked as Chainguard acquires customers, which Bar said ensures discipline and efficiency and keeps shareholder value by avoiding equity dilution. The $280 million figure will provide sufficient runway for the next several years, Bar said, enabling Chainguard to pursue its go-to-market and global expansion efforts.

“If you think about the go-to-market, about the demand that we see from customers, this was the right time for us to partner with General Catalyst, which is a great partner,” Bar said.

Chainguard’s enterprise sales model requires boots on the ground in local markets, which he said means hiring regional sales and marketing teams, developing localized outreach, and ensuring enough presence to support relationship-based enterprise sales cycles. This will help Chainguard reach a wider network of developers, organizations, and ecosystems who are rapidly embracing open source technologies, he said.

“It’s different from PLG stuff,” Bar said. We need to have presence in each country to make sure that we are connecting with the right customers.”

The move from a single-product company focused on containers to a broader platform including virtual machines and secure libraries enables cross-selling and deeper engagement with existing customers, while also opening doors to entirely new markets, Bar said. The secure libraries product is seeing strong early demand, which he said is driven in part by the rise in open source threats and supply chain attacks.

“We want to be the trusted company to secure the open source,” Bar said. “And I think that if you think about the VMs and the libraries all together, that’s something that provides much more of a platform, and not just a core solution.”

Why Developers Using AI Are Highly Reliant on Open Source

Developers using code co-pilots or LLMs are increasingly reliant on open source packages, which Bar said makes open source security a foundational concern. Bar sees Chainguard as an infrastructure layer that helps builders innovate without security compromise, which positions the company alongside essential developer tools and platforms rather than as a bolt-on security solution.

Most code is open source, Bar said. “We would like to be the place that secures everything all together. We are partnering with great builders around the globe to make sure that they can move faster and build whatever they want without being worried about any vulnerabilities that they have today.”

Competition typically arises from large legacy cybersecurity platforms attempting to expand into open source, as well as smaller emerging players trying to replicate aspects of Chainguard’s innovation, Bar said. Unlike generalized cybersecurity providers, Chainguard’s tight focus on open source infrastructure allows it to build tailored, effective solutions that resonate with software development teams, Bar said.

“It’s a great validation for the solution and the problem that we’re trying to solve,” Bar said. “One of the things that I noticed is the quality and the trust that our customers have with our product.”

Chainguard’s typical client is a large enterprise with a strong engineering dependency and a software stack that’s heavily reliant on open source, with customers spanning the gamut from tech and financial services to healthcare and logistics, according to Bar. He said Chainguard’s diversified portfolio allows the company to grow accounts over time through both cross-sell and upsell.

“It’s always about making sure your unit economics are healthy,” Bar said. “You can push for growth, but in a way that is sustainable. As much as you can improve your margins over time, that helps you to generate and build a more sustainable business.”