Venture capital, MSP, Content, Networking

Zorus Raises $9M; Plans Detection and Response Security Solutions for MSPs

Zorus has raised $9 million in Series A funding, formed a new board featuring Datto and Akamai veterans, and announced plans to extend its security platform from filtering to "extensive detection and response security solutions," the MSP-focused security company disclosed today.

Zorus CEO Ian McChord
Zorus CEO Ian McChord

Among the key factoids to note:

Datto veteran Ian McChord has led Zorus as CEO since October 2020. Zorus founder Greg Gage, another Datto veteran, is CTO. The current Zorus SaaS-based platform includes A.I.-focused web filtering and productivity monitoring software sold through MSPs. Looking ahead, Zorus plans to add detection and response security solutions to the platform, though a timeline for the capabilities was not disclosed.

In a prepared statement about the business direction, Zorus CEO Ian McChord said:

“Today’s I.T. infrastructure requires an endpoint-first approach. Security starting at the user provides a better level of protection than previous router- or network-based solutions. What we can do to protect users and their businesses on top of the Zorus filtering agent is almost limitless.”

Detection and Response for MSPs: Emerging Security Options

The Zorus funding surfaces during an EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), MDR (managed detection and response) and XDR (eXtended Detection and Response) land grab in the MSSP and MSP markets. Among the factoids to note:

MDR and EDR Security Market Research and Growth Forecasts

The market for managed detection and response (MDR) security will reach $2.2 billion by 2027, which represents a 16.7% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2021, according to Infinity Business Insights. ChannelE2E believes that's a conservative forecast.

Meanwhile, the market for endpoint detection and response (EDR) security will reach $8.2 billion by 2028, which represents a 20.8 CAGR from $1.8 billion in 2020, according to Reports and Data.

Disclosure: Author Joe Panettieri is a member of Channel Angels, an angel investor peer group that invested in a Zorus seed round in 2020.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.