“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.”
– Nelson Mandela
Five years ago, when Alon, Liron and I started the company, we were probably the only ones who actually believed that fraud-free e-commerce was possible. We’re not quite there yet, but every day, every one of us, to the tune of 130 strong, work tirelessly to bring us closer to that goal. And now we don’t just believe it. We know we can do it.
Five years ago we worked in a basement, operating on great coffee. Then, we worked from the top floor of a gas station where the coffee wasn’t as good (gas stations are not the best places in which to light fires to make coffee). Now, we are working out of offices in multiple countries with some of the world’s most admired and successful brands, including Fortune 500 retailers, leading travel companies, and amazing digital disruptors, across five different continents.
One of the best things about fundraising is that it forces you to list all of the great things you’ve achieved as a company, and more importantly, all of the greater things you aspire to achieve in the future.
We have always known that our platform creates the safest, most trustworthy environment for e-commerce. We’re proud to drive and facilitate the amazing innovation that’s happening in the space, and to create a place where companies selling online can come together to fight fraud as one.
Over the last year we’ve really seen what happens when others discover that too. With 1200% growth in just 12 months, Forter is now protecting over $50B in online transactions. That’s more than 10% of all US commerce transactions outside of Amazon.
Fueled by this amazing success we are very proud to announce that we have raised another $50M in a round led by March Capital and Salesforce Ventures, with all of our previous investors – Sequoia Capital, NEA, Scale Venture Partners, Commerce Ventures, and Arbor Ventures – continuing their amazing support and belief in Forter as well.
The funding will be used to invest even more in our incredible team and our technology. But most importantly we will invest in research to expand our platform, helping our customers to continuously improve the e-commerce experience. We’ll be expanding internationally and will keep uniting the world of commerce to work towards a world where no retailer ever stands alone, exposed to fraud.
It is a really great time to reflect on what we’ve done well, and what we should do better. On how truly remarkable every one of our team members is, bringing their different backgrounds, ideas, passions and dedication to the company, and believing in what we’re creating together. Where we are today isn’t about the money we’ve raised, or some brilliant idea we had. It’s about what we’ve achieved as a team. One team. And what we can create going forward.
It is also a great opportunity to thank each and every one of our customers. We thank them for putting their trust in us. For constantly providing feedback. For demanding more and more. We know that it makes us better and we’re pleased and proud to respond to the challenge (even if sometimes it can drive us a little nuts). Forter becomes better with every new customer and our success is 100% tied to our customers’ success.
Reflecting on everything today, it’s almost hard to believe that we’ve gotten to this point in just five years, with $50M in funding. I simply can’t wait to see how far we can get, and the changes we can help drive over the next five years, with $50M more…