NightDragon, Merlin Partner to Deliver Emerging Cybersecurity Innovation to U.S. Public Sector
Merlin will work with NightDragon portfolio companies to advance their go-to-market capabilities and deliver solutions to support critical U.S. public sector missions
SAN FRANCISCO (February 16, 2022) – NightDragon today announced a new partnership with Merlin, a public sector platform of cybersecurity investment, innovation, technical expertise and go-to-market acceleration, to enhance the ability of its venture portfolio of innovative companies to go to market and solve the biggest challenges of U.S. public sector customers around cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy (CSSP).
With an exclusive focus on cybersecurity solutions for the U.S. public sector, the Merlin team specializes in diligently selecting emerging technologies and creating rich solutions that address the needs of government’s most strategic and critical programs. Merlin will now help NightDragon portfolio companies tap into the public sector go-to-market strategies it can provide and work in partnership to deliver innovative CSSP technologies to government customers.
“NightDragon recognizes the criticality of bringing cutting-edge cybersecurity technologies to U.S. public sector customers. We are proud to partner with Merlin to help our portfolio companies hyperscale their growth engines in this critical sector and deliver emerging technology innovations to support essential government missions,” said Dave DeWalt, founder and managing director, NightDragon.
NightDragon portfolio companies will benefit from Merlin’s solutioning and domain expertise, therefore accelerating their go-to-market capabilities in the public sector marketplace. The companies will receive elevated levels of support, including co-marketing, pre/post sales, transaction and business development support from Merlin personnel. Merlin will also provide guidance on building successful managed services offerings and related go-to-market strategies and will share insight into selling best practices into the public sector. As a result, NightDragon companies will be better prepared to sell to government customers and deliver targeted and innovative cybersecurity solutions to federal civilian, defense, and state and local agencies.
In addition to a go-to-market partnership, NightDragon and Merlin Ventures have agreed to collaborate on potential capital co-investment opportunities in their respective portfolios. With such a strong go-to-market engine, Merlin is well poised to act as a strategic investor in NightDragon strategic syndicates, and the companies agree to regularly assess investment opportunities throughout the course of the partnership.
“As cybersecurity attacks continue to increase in frequency, scale and sophistication, it is important for Merlin to play an essential role in helping our customers identify and adopt the latest emerging technology innovations. NightDragon has proven again and again its ability to invest and advise some of the most innovative companies on the market and we look forward to working with them to further enhance the value we can provide to our customers,” said David Phelps, CEO of Merlin.
This partnership builds on pre-existing NightDragon business units, including NightDragon Government Services and NightDragon Go-to-Market Scaling. The U.S. public sector market represents one of the largest growth opportunities for emerging technology companies, with more than $250 billion in total projected spend in 2022. Other partnerships formed in the interest of helping NightDragon portfolio companies scale include Carahsoft, Optiv, Ingram Micro, Macnica and Exclusive Networks.
“NightDragon continues to expand the resources and partnerships it offers to its portfolio companies as we look to grow our businesses in key markets. We look forward to the potential to work with partners like Merlin to continue building our go-to-market strategy and delivering unique, innovative solutions to support important government missions,” said Tucker Callaway, CEO of LogDNA, a NightDragon portfolio company.
About NightDragon
NightDragon is an investment and advisory firm focused on growth and late-stage investments within the cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy industries. Its platform and vast industry network provide unparalleled threat insights, deal flow, market leverage and operating expertise to drive portfolio company growth and increase shareholder value. The NightDragon team has more than 25 years of operational and market expertise and was founded by Dave DeWalt and Ken Gonzalez, who served as senior executives leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye. Read more about NightDragon at nightdragon.com.
About Merlin
Merlin is a powerful ecosystem of cybersecurity investment, innovation, technical expertise, and go-to-market acceleration with 25 years of experience working with the U.S. Public Sector. Through Merlin, federal civilian, defense, state, local and education customers access innovative cybersecurity solutions that have been strategically curated due to their ability to effectively meet public sector requirements and mission priorities. Merlin does this by selectively partnering with best-in-class cybersecurity brands, investing in visionary emerging technologies and accelerating growth and value creation for its partners. This enables the U.S. Public Sector to successfully keep ahead of today’s critical threats, accelerate modernization initiatives, and defend our nation. Learn more at merlincyber.com.
