California-based privacy and security firm, AnchorFree, has just announced that it closed $52 million in a Series C round of funding, led by Goldman Sachs.
In this latest round of investment, Goldman Sachs is joining existing investors including, Bert Roberts (former chairman and CEO of MCI); Russell Cleveland (president of RENN Capital Group); tech investor Esther Dyson; Greg Coleman (former president of The Huffington Post); Doug Maine (former CFO of IBM); Rick Roth (former CEO of Ogilvy Action); and Kevin Cook (VP of corporate development at Barracuda Networks).
Speaking about the new addition, co-founder and CEO of AnchorFree, David Gorodyansky said:
“This investment will help fuel further growth as we execute on our plan to reach a sizeable piece of our addressable market of 1.6 billion users. This financing validates our founding vision of building a successful company while making a positive social impact for people all over the world.”
Founded in 2005, AnchorFree is best known for its desktop software, Hotspot Shield, a VPN service which allows users to browse the Internet safely and anonymously.
The software enables users to circumvent browsing restrictions, whether due to location or government crackdowns, as has often been the case in Iran. Hotspot Shield was also instrumental in knowing exactly when the Libyan government flipped the switch last year, taking the entire country offline.
It has since gone on to launch an iOS app, add malware protection to its suite of tools and add automatic network detection, among many other features.
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AnchorFree has previously raised $11 million in its Series A and B rounds, bringing the company’s total financing to $63 million, while Goldman Sachs’ previous investments include $500 million going to Facebook, and more recently, participating in a $35 million investment round in e-commerce startup, BeachMint.
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