Internet security startup Malwarebytes announced Thursday it raised $30 million to expand its software business.
According to The New York Times, Highland Capital Partners led the round of the investment while valuation was not disclosed. It became the first outside capital that Malwarebytes has raised.
Malwarebytes Chief Executive Marcin Kleczynski said he wanted to use the extra money to hire more salespeople and engineers. Highland Capital Partners actually contacted the software company in February 2013 and expressed interest in investing, but Kleczynski refused the check because the company was able to sustain itself. Malwarebytes is still profitable now, and Kleczynski raised money only for business expansion.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Kleczynski’s interest in antivirus program was developed 10 years ago when he was 14. Kleczynski infected his parents’ computer when he was trying to look for a key generator for a video game. The computer had antivirus software installed but still got infected, so he was helpless. Kleczynski then found volunteers, on a spyware website, who helped him fix the computer.
Since then , Kleczynski started writing free program tools in Visual Basic, a Microsoft system that allows users to write programs for operating system. He later met Bruce Harrison, co-founder of Malwarebytes, who at that time worked at a tech shop. They decided to launch Malwarebytes in 2008.
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