Listen to this article
Socket, a startup specializing in scanning tools to detect security vulnerabilities in open source code, has announced a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and included participation from Abstract Ventures, Wndrco, Unusual Ventures, and notable angel investors such as the co-founders of Box, Figma, Okta, Vercel, and Eventbrite. This investment brings Socket’s total funding to $24.6 million, including a previous $4.6 million seed investment.
The new funds will be used to expand Socket’s team and support more programming languages and integrations.
The Growing Importance of Open Source Security
Open source software has become a vital part of the technology landscape, enabling faster and more cost-effective software development. However, security has often been overlooked, leading to a rise in attacks that exploit trust in open source software.
According to a recent survey by Tidelift, only 15% of organizations are extremely confident in their open source management practices. Security firm Synopsys found that 89% of companies’ codebases contained open source software that was more than four years out of date, and 91% used versions that weren’t the latest available.
Socket’s Unique Approach to Security
Unlike traditional security scanners that merely look up software to see if vulnerabilities have been reported, Socket goes deeper. It attempts to reduce noise that might arise when analyzing thousands of lines of third-party code and can detect active supply chain attacks.
Socket’s platform looks for high-level red flags such as malware, typo-squatting, misleading packages, unmaintained code, unknown maintainers, and excessive permissions. It also offers a search function to find and track changes in dependencies and a free browser extension to assess whether an open source package is secure and trustworthy.
Socket has even introduced a connector to ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot, to summarize potential issues in software packages.
Customer Base and Growth Plans
Since its founding in 2020, San Francisco-based Socket has attracted well-known customers, including Brave, Figma, and Vercel. The company plans to double in size in terms of its workforce within the next few months, focusing on growing its engineering, security, operations, sales, and marketing teams.
CEO Feross Aboukhadijeh emphasizes that Socket’s approach to building a product that developers love has driven strong demand and positive word-of-mouth.
Conclusion
Socket’s funding round and innovative approach to open source software security highlight the growing need for robust security measures in the open source landscape. With its unique methodology and focus on user experience, Socket is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the industry, helping companies secure their open source software and protect against potential threats.
Please email us your feedback and news tips at hello(at)techcompanynews.com
