Menlo Security Aims to ‘Secure the Entire Workspace’ With Votiro Buy

Votiro, a data and file security platform vendor, has been acquired by Menlo Security to broaden Menlo’s workplace data security services offerings for its enterprise customers and partners.

The deal will bring together Menlo Security’s web browser and workplace data protection products and services with Votiro’s content disarm and reconstruction platform to help customers boost their workplace defenses against hackers and cybercriminals.

The price tag and other transaction terms were not disclosed by the companies, which have previously worked together as partners for many years.

The combined products are expected to provide a comprehensive workspace security offering that will protect workers wherever they are located while adapting to their individual work habits, according to the companies. Web browser protection is important, they say, because workers typically spend more than 80% of their work time accessing applications from web browsers.

Votiro’s platform is built to address those needs by handling file security as documents flow in and out across enterprise workspaces through browsers, email, collaboration tools, and API flows, the companies said.

Bill Robbins, the president of Menlo Security, told ChannelE2E that the long partnership between the two companies helped nurture the acquisition. “We had a number of shared customers and we know from this experience that their technology is well-constructed, user-friendly and highly effective,” said Robbins.

“Votiro’s approach to data and file security meshes seamlessly with our vision to secure the entire modern workspace, including browsers, applications and collaboration tools,” said Robbins. “Acquiring Votiro was the right move for Menlo because the solution and their approach to security aligns perfectly with our own philosophies, and now we can deliver a complete workspace security solution to our customers while ensuring our product roadmaps remain aligned going forward.”

According to Robbins, the acquisition offers new business and sales opportunities in the marketplace for MSPs and other channel partners. This product combines these valuable protections.  

“This means high security efficacy and a frictionless user experience, a critical differentiator in today’s work environment, and a compelling conversation starter with CIOs and CISOs,” he said. “Votiro has also been making significant progress in using AI for data security, with the potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar data loss prevention market. All of this creates more business opportunities for our partners and allows them to have a more impactful relationship with their customers.”

A Timely Acquisition: Analysts

Shelly Kramer, principal analyst with Kramer&Co., told ChannelE2E that this acquisition is “incredibly timely as organizations are having to quickly adapt to the use of cloud-based apps and myriad collaboration tools.”

The problem for enterprises and SMBs is that “collaboration tools alone present great risk to organizations of all sizes,” said Kramer. “Think about what you personally share when collaborating – whether in Zoom, Webex, Teams, Slack, Google Docs, Microsoft 365, and others. And in addition to using collaboration platforms, we collectively live inside email platforms day in and day out, which remains the number one cybersecurity risk vector.” 

All these pieces add up and create a security mess, she said.

“Traditional endpoint protections can't protect against the modern workflow, and this integration of Votiro technology into Menlo's security offerings is well-timed,” she said. “Menlo is already a leader in the secure browser solution category, so adding these enhanced capabilities and securing email, collaboration tools, and API flows is a great addition to the company's offerings.”

Another IT analyst, Rob Enderle, principal of Enderle Research, agrees.

“Providing a comprehensive security product like this, tuned for how an employee works, is a surprisingly unique approach,” Enderle told ChannelE2E. “Too often, it seems like security firms have little or no understanding of the needs of the employee rather than that of the company. A product like this should keep both more secure. And if you do not work with the employees, they are likely to disable the security solutions that their companies implement so they can meet their measured performance goals.” 

If Menlo Security markets this new offering well, “it should bring them a lot of new business and make existing customers far happier with them,” said Enderle.  

More Details About Menlo Security and Votiro

Last October, Menlo Security reached $100 million in annual recurring revenue for the first time since its founding in 2012. Menlo Security is backed by Vista Equity Partners, Neuberger Berman, General Catalyst, American Express Ventures, Ericsson Ventures, HSBC, and JPMorgan Chase. Its customers include major Fortune 500 companies, eight of the ten largest global financial services institutions, and large governmental institutions.

Votiro was founded in 2010 and raised $11.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Harvest Lane Asset Management in 2023.