StackPath Launches to Build the Path to a Secure Internet

Company Secures Significant Investment From ABRY Partners; Former SoftLayer CEO Lance Crosby Assembles World-Class Leadership Team, Acquires Key Technology Companies to Develop a Global Multi-Threat Protection Platform for Businesses


DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Jul 25, 2016) - StackPath today emerged from stealth as the Security-as-a-Service company providing a path to a more secure Internet and announced a significant investment from ABRY Partners, a $4.3 billion private equity fund focused on investing in information and business service companies. The launch marks the highly anticipated next endeavor for chairman and CEO Lance Crosby -- founder and former chairman and CEO of SoftLayer Technologies (acquired by IBM in 2013 and now the foundation of IBM's Cloud Computing division).

StackPath is Crosby's vision for a frictionless and scalable security platform specifically designed to accommodate the crushing demand of traffic on the Internet, the seemingly endless new point solutions purporting to fix the latest threat, in an ever-expanding spectrum of cyber threats. The funds are being used to drive acquisition strategy, further develop the overall infrastructure and add new services, making it a holistic security platform designed to meet the needs of businesses today.

"The Internet is where the world does business. It may be the single most important utility supporting businesses today, yet we continue to overtax the aging infrastructure and struggle to make it secure," said Lance Crosby, CEO of StackPath. "The StackPath platform is an integrated response to a fragmented problem created by too many individual, appliance-based, bolt-on security solutions. It's time to give businesses Internet services that have security built in, not bolted on -- so they can be reliable guardians of their most precious assets. We appreciate the support from ABRY Partners as we continue our mission of building a path to a secure Internet."

StackPath is the single, comprehensive security platform that businesses need today. A suite of mission-critical security Web services, it will collate and leverage information that each service gathers via a machine learning engine that becomes smarter and more threat-aware with each recorded event. It effectively deputizes each service on the host network with the authority to identify and communicate real-time threats against it to an intelligent data repository, which is actionable not only for StackPath subscribers, but also via an API for application developers, microservices, connected devices and the global Internet of Things.

"The most pressing issue facing the enterprise today is the fear of being hacked. Last year, we saw over 400 million identified malware attacks, with the amount of new threats more than doubling up 125 percent from 2014 -- creating billions of dollars in financial loss globally," said Robert Westervelt, Analyst and lead of IDC's data security program. "As organizations reduce their on-premise footprint and consume more resources, I believe holistic platforms like this new offering is an extremely effective option. This approach provides scalability and flexibility, supports hybrid deployments and helps reduce the complexity issues that often exposes sensitive data to attackers."

Team to Bring The Path to Life
In establishing his latest venture, Crosby has assembled an impressive leadership team. Key new hires include:

  • Andrew Higginbotham, COO and president: Previously, Higginbotham was senior vice president of cloud and technology at CenturyLink, one of the largest global managed hosting and cloud providers.
  • Kim Sheehy, CFO: Sheehy will provide the discipline and systems needed for StackPath to scale quickly. As CFO at CyrusOne (CONE), Sheehy ushered the company through an incredibly successful IPO and its stock continues to climb.

"Just like cloud disrupted the global Infrastructure landscape, StackPath will create a similar, much needed, disruption to the security space," said Andrew Higginbotham, COO of StackPath. "StackPath's unified, cloud-based approach designed specifically for an ecosystem of IoT, sensors and big data will usher in a significant change to a market with too many niche 'feature' companies and a few big legacy giants built for an Internet that largely served Web pages."

StackPath Adds to its Platform with Key Acquisitions
In addition to the proprietary technology built by its own team of experts and insights from years of experience building global infrastructure at massive scale, StackPath sought out best-in-class technology and intellectual property that would propel the development of the platform. Its acquisition of MaxCDN, a leading NextGen CDN company, Fireblade, an Israel-based company with patented cloud based WAF technology, and Cloak, a leading VPN technology company, are all strategic assets that the platform leverages. In addition, patented DDOS mitigation technology rounds off an impressive array of IP. As StackPath launches, it already counts more than 30,000 customers ranging from Fortune 100 companies to early-stage startups.

StackPath Availability
All future services launched via the StackPath platform with have built-in security. The first StackPath product will be a Secure Content Delivery service, with other services rolling out soon. For additional information on the platform, watch this video [link] and for updates on the products sign up on the Website at www.StackPath.com.

About StackPath
StackPath is the intelligent Web services platform for security, speed and scale. It is the first platform to unify enterprise security solutions by leveraging collaborative intelligence that makes each service smarter and more secure with every threat detected, in addition to vastly improving the customer experience. More than 30,000 customers, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to early stage startups already use StackPath technology. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, StackPath has offices across the U.S. and internationally. For more information, see www.StackPath.com, and follow StackPath at www.fb.com/stackpathllc, www.twitter.com/stackpath.