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- Critical Start
Critical Start Funding, Investors & Competitors
Critical Start has raised $255M across 2 funding rounds, most recently a $215M undisclosed-stage round in April 2022.
Last Critical Start funding round
$215M
Undisclosed stage · Apr 2022
Cumulative funding Critical Start raised
$255M
across 2 funding rounds
Key investors in Critical Start
Vista Equity Partners
Bregal
About Critical Start
Critical Start is a managed detection and response provider based in Dallas, Texas. The company delivers 24/7 SOC services using its Defendable Security framework for threat hunting and incident response. Serving enterprises in finance and healthcare across North America, it integrates with platforms like Splunk and Palo Alto Networks. Founded in 2013, Critical Start monitors over 10 petabytes of data daily.
Founded
2012
HQ
Website
Status
Privately held
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Services, Subscription
Critical Start Funding History
Critical Start has raised a total of $255M across 2 funding rounds.
Critical Start's first fundraising round was a $40M undisclosed-stage round in June 2019. The most recent completed round was a $215M undisclosed-stage round in April 2022.
Critical Start funding rounds
| Date | Stage | Investors | Raised | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2022 | Undisclosed stage | Vista Equity Partners (lead) | $215M | Critical Start is a leading provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) cybersecurity solutions for enterprises. Founded in 2012, the company has built a best-in-class technology platform with an automated MDR platform capable of resolving over 99% of security alerts automatically, with remaining issues handled by security operations center analysts. The company operates under a 100% channel go-to-market model with 90 channel partners including Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Splunk, SentinelOne, and VMware. In April 2022, Critical Start announced a strategic growth investment of over $215 million from Vista Equity Partners to accelerate growth and expand its MDR offerings and customer reach. The company had achieved more than 400% ARR growth over the three-year period prior to the investment and operated a customer base spanning hundreds of midsize and large enterprise clients. Critical Start employed approximately 250 people at the time of the funding round and was targeting 35% headcount growth by the end of 2022. The investment was intended to fund expansion of technology, product, and service offerings as well as team growth to meet market demand in the escalating global cyber threat landscape. Prior to the Vista investment, Critical Start had raised $40 million in minority investment from Sagemount, a growth equity firm, with the company's MDR business having grown over 200% the previous year. |
| Jun 2019 | Undisclosed stage | Bregal (lead) | $40M | Critical Start is a cybersecurity company providing Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services and its proprietary Zero Trust platform (ZTAP) to enterprise customers across the United States. The company has partnerships with major security technology providers including Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection, Chronicle Backstory, and Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, and supports integration with platforms such as Splunk, Cylance, and Carbon Black. In June 2019, Bregal Sagemount made a minority investment in Critical Start, marking the company's first-ever outside investment. The investment later grew to $40 million as disclosed in October 2025 announcements, though the specific valuation and financial terms were not disclosed at the time of the initial investment. Bregal Sagemount is a growth-focused private equity firm investing in high-growth sectors including software, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business services. Critical Start operates on a 100% channel go-to-market model, serving enterprise customers through a network of channel partners. The company has been recognized as an MDR launch partner for several high-profile security technology platforms, positioning it as a key player in the managed detection and response market during the period of rapid cybersecurity spending growth. The company continued to expand following the Bregal Sagemount investment, eventually securing a significantly larger $215 million strategic growth investment from Vista Equity Partners in April 2022 to further accelerate growth and scale its MDR offerings globally. |
Who has invested in Critical Start?
2 investors have backed Critical Start across its funding rounds, including Vista Equity Partners and Bregal.
Lead investors include Vista Equity Partners and Bregal.
Critical Start Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Start Free TrialAcquisitions by Critical Start
Critical Start has acquired 1 company to date.
Last acquisition by Critical Start was on March 15th 2018. Critical Start acquired Advanced Threat Analytics for undisclosed valuation.
Latest Acquisitions by Critical Start
| Description | Advanced Threat Analytics is a cybersecurity firm offering an alert classification platform and MobileSOC app for iOS and Android to combat alert fatigue in large enterprises and managed security service providers. The company orchestrates security events through machine learning-driven triage, enabling incident responders to prioritize threats remotely. Advanced Threat Analytics integrates with SIEM systems and endpoint detection tools for real-time analysis in global SOC environments. |
| HQ Country | |
| HQ City | Dallas, TX |
| Deal Date | 15 Mar 2018 |
| Valuation | undisclosed |
| EV/Revenue | |
| EV/EBITDA | |
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Critical Start acquisitions and their M&A valuation multiples. Start Free Trial | |
Critical Start Competitors
Critical Start competitors include listed companies like IBM, CACI International, Palo Alto Networks and CrowdStrike, and private ones like Defense Unicorns and Safe Superintelligence.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publicly listed | $68B | $17B | $224B | 4.0x | ||
| Publicly listed | $9.6B | $1.2B | $14B | 2.0x | ||
| Private | - | - | $1B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $11B | $1B | $307B | 25.9x | ||
| Publicly listed | $4.8B | ($12M) | $252B | 44.5x | ||
| Private | - | - | $32B | - |
Critical Start Public Comps
Critical Start is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Palantir, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, IBM, Fortinet, Cloudflare, Accenture, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Fujitsu.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $4.5B | $1.5B | 92.6x | 58.1x | 285.0x | 97.4x | |||
| $11B | $1B | 26.7x | 25.9x | 301.1x | 76.9x | |||
| $4.8B | ($12M) | 51.4x | 44.5x | (19816.2x) | 151.0x | |||
| $68B | $17B | 4.2x | 4.0x | 16.9x | 14.6x | |||
| $6.8B | $2.3B | 18.1x | 15.9x | 53.7x | 41.9x | |||
| $2.2B | ($25M) | 54.6x | 44.3x | (4653.4x) | 185.1x | |||
| $70B | $12B | 1.7x | 1.6x | 10.1x | 8.4x | |||
| $28B | $7.1B | 2.9x | 2.7x | 11.2x | 10.1x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Critical Start competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Critical Start
| When was Critical Start founded? | Critical Start was founded in 2012. |
| Where is Critical Start headquartered? | Critical Start is headquartered in Dallas, TX, United States. |
| Is Critical Start publicly listed? | No, Critical Start is a private, VC-backed company. |
| How much funding has Critical Start raised? | Critical Start has raised $255M across 2 funding rounds. |
| What was Critical Start's last funding round? | Critical Start's last funding round was a $215M undisclosed-stage round in April 2022, led by Vista Equity Partners. |
| Who are Critical Start's investors? | Critical Start's investors include Vista Equity Partners and Bregal. |
| Which companies are comparable to Critical Start? | Companies comparable to Critical Start include IBM, CACI International, Defense Unicorns, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike and Safe Superintelligence. |
| How many companies has Critical Start acquired? | Critical Start has acquired 1 company, including Advanced Threat Analytics. |
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