Forgepoint Capital Reports Record Growth & Adds Diverse Talent to Bolster Early-Stage Venture Capital Fund

• Leading cybersecurity venture capital firm deploys over half a billion dollars to advance innovation
• Announces 10 new companies to become the largest portfolio in cybersecurity venture capital
• Company makes 6 new hires and names 6 promotions to accommodate rapid growth

SAN MATEO, Calif., March 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Forgepoint Capital, the world's most active early-stage venture capital fund focused on cybersecurity, today announced the firm achieved record growth in 2021 and added a diverse set of seasoned executives across its organization to support the continued global growth of both the firm and its portfolio. Forgepoint now has the largest dedicated team in cybersecurity venture capital, including 11 investment professionals, 35 active cybersecurity portfolio companies, 70+ Advisory Council members, and $770M in assets under management (AUM), with over $500M deployed to date.

New additions to the Forgepoint team include:

• Reynaldo "Rey" Kirton, Senior Associate
• Anthony Dagostino, Entrepreneur in Residence
• Billy Gouveia, Entrepreneur in Residence
• Mercy Caprara, Head of Portfolio Operations
• Tanya Loh, Head of Marketing and Community
• Karl Sharman, Talent Management Consultant

During 2021, Forgepoint completed 22 new financings and added 10 new cyber companies to its growing portfolio, including 1Kosmos, Cyberhaven, DeepSee, Ermetic, Interos, Noname Security, Rafay, Verituity and WireWheel. SolCyber Managed Security Services, Inc. was also incubated within Forgepoint and launched to market in July 2021.

"Forgepoint backs entrepreneurs building transformative companies that protect the digital future. We're thrilled that 2021 was a record year for us and that 2022 is off to an excellent start, too," said J. Alberto Yépez, Forgepoint co-founder and managing director. "We've added more expertise and diversity to our team and Advisory Council to further expand our footprint and the ways we help our companies as they scale. Inviting long standing colleagues along with new team members enables us to tap into all of their unique backgrounds while collaborating on what's next for our growing portfolio."

Reynaldo "Rey" Kirton joined Forgepoint as a Senior Associate, after interning with the fund while obtaining his MBA. Prior to Forgepoint, he worked with Harlem Capital, which invests in minority and women-owned startups, and was a consultant with Altman Vilandrie, where he managed over 30 due diligence initiatives for global clients. Rey, a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) Charterholder, began his career as an Investment Associate with Cambridge Associates where he provided capital markets research and portfolio allocation advice to private and institutional investor clients, ranging from $50M to $3B in assets.

Forgepoint's two Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) each bring over 20 years of experience in their respective areas of cyber risk management and incident response.

Anthony Dagostino has spent the majority of his career in cyber and technology risk management and liability insurance underwriting. He joined Forgepoint from Lockton Companies, where he served as Executive Vice President of the Global Cyber and Technology Practice. Prior to Lockton, he was Managing Director, Cyber Risk Consulting & Insurance at Willis Towers Watson where he managed the global cyber insurance advisory practice and founded the Cyber Risk Solutions consulting practice.

Billy Gouveia is a proven expert in incident response. Most recently, he led the U.S. business for the global cyber and intelligence consultancy S-RM, where he was involved in responding to hundreds of cyber incidents. Before S-RM, he co-founded Jumbbit, a startup that aimed to change the way companies protect their most critical data, and concurrently served as COO of Zanaris, a cloud technology MSP with a DevOps focus. Before stepping into the corporate sector, Billy supported several national security organizations and served as a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer.

Forgepoint has also established a new growth team of three seasoned executives to augment the fund's platform and portfolio company support:

Mercy Caprara is Head of Portfolio Operations. She has over 25 years of experience in fundraising, mergers and acquisitions, and leading the finance, accounting, legal, and human resources functions of technology startups. Prior to Forgepoint, Mercy was the CFO of HyTrust (acquired by Entrust) and TriCipher (acquired by VMware).

Tanya Loh is Head of Marketing and Community. She joined Forgepoint from M12 – Microsoft's Venture Fund, where she led market development. She launched the fund in key markets, built its customer innovation practice and broader ecosystem, and led M12's capstone initiatives, including its Female Founders Competitions, which invested $10M in six early-stage companies founded by women. Earlier in her career, she built and scaled several startups, including Yammer (acquired by Microsoft).

Karl Sharman is Forgepoint's Talent Management Consultant. He is also the Head of Cyber Solutions and Consultancies – North America for the global talent recruitment firm Stott and May. With over a decade of recruiting experience in cybersecurity, Karl has helped build and scale teams across Fortune 500 companies, late stage, pre-IPO ventures, early-stage startups, security consultancies and MSSPs.

"With thirty-five companies – the largest portfolio of cybersecurity startups – it was time to add key operators to our bench," said Yépez. "With Mercy, Tanya, and Karl, we now have a growth team purpose-built to help our companies across all fronts – from developing financial excellence and reporting, to building awareness and cultivating our community, to addressing one of the most challenging problems faced by cybersecurity startups today: acquiring and developing talent amidst the global shortage."

Forgepoint has also made several key promotions across its investment team, reflecting the growth of the firm and expanded depth and breadth in cybersecurity investing: 

• Leoncio "Leo" Casusol: promoted from Venture Partner to Partner.
• Andrew McClure: promoted from Principal to Partner
• Ernie Bio: promoted from Principal to Partner
• Manoj "MJ" Ramachandran: promoted from Vice President to Principal
• Connie Qian: promoted from Sr. Associate to Vice President
• Shane Shook: promoted from Venture Consultant to Venture Partner

For more information, view our latest post, Forgepoint Announces Six Team Promotions After Breakout Year of Growth and Performance, on the Forgepoint blog.

About Forgepoint Capital

Forgepoint Capital is a multi-stage venture capital firm that invests in transformative companies protecting the digital future. Founded in 2015, Forgepoint backs exceptional entrepreneurs tackling the biggest challenges in cybersecurity and infrastructure software. The firm brings nearly a century of company-building experience and draws upon one the largest networks of trusted industry experts and customers to support entrepreneurs with strategic guidance and connections. Forgepoint invests globally from its San Francisco Bay Area headquarters. For more information, visit https://forgepointcap.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

SOURCE Forgepoint Capital