Guardz Snags $56M to Grow AI Cybersecurity Platform for MSPs

A startup led by a former IntSights executive raised $56 million to create a unified, automation cybersecurity solution designed specifically for MSPs.

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Miami-based Guardz will use the Series B proceeds to leverage large language models to train its own AI systems and make security seamless for MSPs who traditionally rely on disparate tools, according to co-founder and CEO Dor Eisner. He said this will allow MSPs to reduce their reliance on multiple point solutions and streamline security operations across identity, email, devices, data and user awareness.

“We did a plan of how we are going to grow into a bigger company in the next two-to-three years,” Eisner told Information Security Media Group. “And we decided that this is the right budget that we need to scale the engineering, the go-to-market, and everything in between. So that was the calculation.”

Guardz, established in 2022, employs 118 people and has raised $118 million of outside funding, having last completed an $18 million Series A funding round in December 2023 led by Glilot+. The company has been led since inception by Eisner, who oversaw business development for external threat intelligence provider IntSights before it was sold to Rapid7 for $322.2 million in July 2021 (see: Huntress Lands $150M to Boost Posture, Recovery Capabilities).

How Guardz Is Using AI to Strengthen Detection, Response

As cybercriminals leverage generative AI for more sophisticated attack-as-a-service tools, Eisner said Guardz aims to accelerate its product development and market reach to stay ahead. Guardz’s latest round was led by ClearSky, who Eisner praised for their track record with MSP-centric cybersecurity investments and their ability to bring deep market knowledge, relationships, and operational value.

“AI is empowering us to build better automation for detection and response,” Eisner said. “It’s shifting the market for the bad guys and the good guys in cybersecurity.”

Guardz is training proprietary AI models using data from thousands of businesses already under its protection, Eisner said. These models are developed atop Google and enhanced them with Guardz’s own data pipelines and security-focused training. The Series B funding will allow Guardz to expand its team of AI engineers, improve model accuracy, and increase the sophistication of its response automation.

“Guardz is building a unified cyber security platform, and that is a native AI detection with a native AI response,” Eisner said. “Our ability to double down on the AI these days is an amazing opportunity. So, that’s why we are doubling down on more AI engineers, AI resources and overall training our AI models based on the big LLMs.”

The company provides native security controls across identity, email, endpoints, data and security awareness. Eisner said the technological backbone of this platform is a normalized data lake that aggregates and correlates threat data across users and endpoints. This approach enables MSPs to manage client security from a single interface and significantly reduces the burden on technicians.

“The infrastructure is a normalized data lake that is able to collect thousands of detections of each MSP and correlate detections across the different users in the user centric approach, and take a remediation action in an automated fashion,” Eisner said. “That’s pretty much it.”

Why Guards Will Stay Laser-Focused On North America

Guardz plans to double its headcount from 85 to 170 employees within the next year, with new hires spanning engineering, marketing, sales, operations, customer success, and customer support, he said. Guardz operates with 80% of its customer base in North America, and while Eisner expects the company to eventually shift to a 70/30 US-to-international ratio, the core focus will remain on the U.S. market.

“This is the biggest economy today, and we believe that this is the market that will adopt cybersecurity for small businesses faster than other markets internationally,” Eisner said. “I believe that a small business in in North America will adopt cybersecurity faster than a small business in in Japan.”

While competitors such as Huntress, Blackpoint and Coro offer valuable tools, Eisner noted that these are primarily point solutions, lacking Guardz’s end-to-end integration and operationalization focus. Unlike competitors that focus on a single aspect of cybersecurity like endpoint detection, Eisner said Guardz offers a comprehensive suite that replaces four-to-seven separate point solutions per deployment.

“I think that this market is huge, and I think that there is room for 10-to-20 different vendors,” Eisner said. “Every small business in the world will need to adopt cybersecurity in the next decade. That’s for sure. That’s the market dynamics.”

Rather than selling directly to SMBs, Eisner said Guardz allows MSPs to white-label its platform, allowing MSPs to maintain brand control and customer relationships. This design makes the platform attractive to partners and better suited to MSP workflows. MSPs are already trusted by small businesses, and Guardz’s model allow them to offer enterprise-grade security without juggling disparate tools, he said.

“We want to get to more MSPs, get to more industry events, get to more sales development, so doing more for the community in order to get better,” Eisner said. “We are going to deploy a lot of capital into MSP community empowerment and activities.”