Stairwell Announces $45M Series B Funding Round

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 11, 2022 — Stairwell, a company that empowers security teams to outsmart any attacker, today announced a $45M Series B capitalization. The funding round was led by Section 32, with additional investments from Sequoia Capital, Accel, Lux Capital, Gradient Ventures, and angel investors Eric Schmidt and Michael Ovitz. This brings Stairwell’s total funding to date to $69.5 million as it looks to scale its flagship product, Inception, to become the most powerful continuous intelligence, detection, and response solution available.

“New vulnerabilities are discovered daily, and continuous monitoring, threat hunting, and response are needed for around-the-clock efforts to secure the enterprise. Our goal is to plug these gaps, while simultaneously strengthening organizations’ overall security stack via capturing, storing, and analyzing all executable files across their environment,” said Mike Wiacek, CEO and Founder of Stairwell. “This Series B reflects the confidence investors feel in Inception and Stairwell’s mission to enable security teams to take back control of their data and stay one step ahead of even the most advanced attackers.”

Following deals with key customers and MSSP partner Cyderes earlier this year, this Series B will enable Stairwell to meet increased demand for new Inception features as malware attacks continue to rise. By scaling the Inception platform, Stairwell will create a more intuitive and integrated experience for increased customer success in securing their organizations against any emerging malware threats, including supply chain attacks.

“The platform Stairwell has built is making a huge impact for security teams, and the company is led by some of the sharpest minds in cybersecurity,” said Andy Harrison, Managing Partner at Section 32. “The power and advanced capabilities of the Inception platform are clear to customers and partners, and it’s rare to find a company with such a strong combination of product, engineering, customer focus, and executive leadership.”

This funding will also play a critical role in the expansion of Stairwell’s team. Since the Series B round closed, Stairwell has increased headcount by 100%, with plans to add significantly more employees this year. These hires will include specialized engineers to bring more functionality to Inception as a whole. Notable recent appointments within the company include Brian Lee as Vice President of Marketing and Eric Byrd as Head of Enterprise Sales.

Lee has spent the last decade at Ogilvy working with some of the most famous technology brands in the world, from large Fortune 500 companies (Google, Samsung, Qualcomm, Cummins) to exciting, high-growth start-ups. His vision for Stairwell’s marketing arm is to drive holistic growth for the company, building an enduring brand complemented with a robust marketing machine to drive awareness using the latest technology, data, and techniques.

“As a marketer, the best asset you can have is a good company and product. That’s what initially drew me to Stairwell,” said Lee. “We have a differentiated, innovative product in a category growing in importance. Add to that the incredible pedigree of our team, top investors, and positive business momentum. I knew from my first conversation with Mike Wiacek that I had to be a part of this company’s trajectory as Vice President of Marketing.”

Byrd comes from Red Canary, where he led a team of Senior Enterprise Account Executives across the Northeast and Southeast regions of the United States in securing new customers for security solutions. At Stairwell, Byrd will lead the sales team in identifying Stairwell’s next customers who will make significant strides in their security goals by partnering with the company.

“I’ve been really lucky to work with many incredible teams, so I’ve learned what it takes to build a strong security business that continues to improve its capabilities for customers as you grow,” said Byrd. “Understanding what leading security teams expect from their partners has prepared me to deliver exceptional service for Stairwell’s customers so they can take their security teams to new heights.”

For more information on the roles Stairwell is currently hiring for, please visit www.stairwell.com/careers.

**About Stairwell
**Stairwell helps organizations with security solutions that attackers can’t evade. Its Inception platform empowers security teams to outsmart any attacker by providing continuous intelligence, detection, and response. The Inception platform is used by a number of Fortune 500 companies. Stairwell is comprised of security industry leaders and engineers from Google and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Accel, Section 32, Lux Capital, and Gradient Ventures. For more information, visit www.stairwell.com or connect with us on Twitter or LinkedIn.