LAFAYETTE, Ind., Jan. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Emerging Threats, a world-leading provider of open source and commercial threat and malware intelligence, today announced it has completed its initial round of over $1M of funding from Elevate Ventures, HALO Capital Group, (an angel investor network managed by technology growth initiative TechPoint), and Lawrence Ventures. This round of seed funding will be used to expand Emerging Threats' malware intelligence product lines and increase staff in development, product management, and sales to meet the increasing market demand of Emerging Threats solutions.

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Elevate Ventures is a venture development organization that provides capital and entrepreneurial assistance services to connect high-potential, high-growth companies with the resources they need to succeed long-term.

HALO (Hoosier Angels Looking for Opportunities) is a group of successful Indiana entrepreneurs seeking to invest in up-and-coming companies, offering capital (typically within the range of $250,000 to $2 million) and management expertise to high-potential start-ups.  HALO has invested nearly $20 Million in Indiana companies.

Lawrence Ventures invests in early-stage companies and provides business and strategic advisory services to companies pursuing mergers and acquisitions, sale transactions and venture capital.

Emerging Threats continues to gain momentum in the marketplace by licensing its ETPro™ Ruleset and IQRisk™ Suite of threat and malware intelligence solutions. In 2012, Emerging Threats has secured major customers while exponentially increasing revenue over the previous year. The continued rise in global malicious threats, malware, and malware variants has increased year over year with a staggering amount of billions of these threats annually. These attacks are no longer limited to large organizations. With over 50% of the attacks breaching SMEs and smaller business, the demand for malware prevention and threat intelligence has skyrocketed.

"It's exciting to partner with investors that understand our vision and share our passion for what we do; we are pleased to have Elevate Ventures, HALO Capital Group, and Lawrence Ventures contribute to our seed funding," said Ken Gramley, CEO of Emerging Threats. "Our Investors identified Emerging Threats as a company with amazing potential in the fast growing network security market, which includes threat and malware intelligence. The company has grown significantly every quarter in 2012, and this seed round will allow us to keep the momentum going throughout 2013."

"Elevate Ventures is committed to helping emerging, high-potential businesses like Emerging Threats become successful," said Stephen Hourigan, CEO of Elevate Ventures. "Emerging Threats continues to gain market share in the malware and threat intelligence space because of its solid products and impeccable reputation in the industry, and we are excited to see the progress they have made in the past year."

"We are excited to help innovative companies like Emerging Threats continue their path to success," said Bill Godfrey, a HALO Capital Group investor and member of Emerging Threats board of directors. "The increase in malicious threats and Emerging Threats' reputation and best-of-breed solutions make them an ideal company to be part of HALO's investment portfolio. We look forward to working with Ken and his team to help them scale revenues and achieve their goals."

About Emerging Threats

Emerging Threats is a world-leading provider of open source and commercial threat and malware intelligence. Founded in 2003 as a cyber security research community, Emerging Threats has become the de facto standard in network-based malware threat detection. The company's ETOpen Ruleset, ETPro™ Ruleset, and IQRisk™ suite of threat intelligence are platform agnostic for easy integration with Suricata, SNORT^®, and other network intrusion protection and detection systems. With ETPro Ruleset, organizations can achieve the highest standards of malicious threat detection with world-class support and research for extended vulnerability coverage. ETPro Ruleset is ideal for enterprises, government agencies, financial institutions, SMBs, higher education, and service providers. For more information, please visit http://www.emergingthreats.net.

About Elevate Ventures

Elevate Ventures is a non-profit, venture development organization focused on developing emerging and existing high-potential businesses and transforming them into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. The Elevate team provides professional advisory services to entrepreneurs and early-stage companies interested in significant growth, while also connecting them with other resources throughout the state.

One of the most active investors in the State of Indiana, Elevate Ventures currently manages Indiana Angel Network Fund, Indiana 21^st Century Research & Technology Fund, a fund of funds, and other entrepreneurship initiatives. For more information about Elevate Ventures, Inc. and its programs, visit www.elevateventures.com.

About TechPoint

TechPoint is Indiana's only statewide technology initiative, representing industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses, colleges and research universities, and local economic development organizations. The group's mission is to accelerate Indiana's emerging and vibrant information technology sector by: promoting the successes of information technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of IT companies; and advocating appropriate public policy. TechPoint is an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Visit www.techpoint.org.

© 2012 Emerging Threats Pro, LLC. All rights reserved.  All other names and marks are property of their respective owners. ETPro™, IQRisk™, and the ET design are trademarks of Emerging Threats Pro, LLC.

SNORT® is a registered trademark of Sourcefire, Inc.

Global Corporate Contact:
Byron Rashed
Emerging Threats Pro, LLC
+1 866 504 2523, x-112
brashed@emergingthreats.net

SOURCE Emerging Threats