Horizon3 pours $20M into partners as NodeZero ARR jumps 120%
What's the deal? Horizon3Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is investing $20 million to expand its global partner ecosystem, funnelling the money into channel leadership, partner enablement, strategic alliances, and go-to-market programmes. The cybersecurity firm builds NodeZero, a proactive security platform that runs autonomous penetration tests.
The numbers: Annual recurring revenue for the NodeZero Proactive Security Platform grew 120% year over year. That growth is backed by more than 310,000 production-safe autonomous security tests across over 7,000 customer environments.
Why partners? Horizon3 was built as a channel-first company, and 90% of its business now runs through partners. When partners deploy NodeZero, they resell the software and layer on higher-margin services like remediation, incident response, and vCISO advisory — a lucrative slice the company deliberately leaves to them.
What's the endgame? The $20 million targets four areas: new channel leadership for service providers and alliances, smoother deal registration and order processing, role-specific training and certifications, and go-to-market incentives such as marketing development funds. The aim is to let partners sell faster while building their own margin-rich offerings.
"Cybersecurity is ultimately a business built on trust," said Snehal AntaniDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, co-founder and chief executive officer of Horizon3 (translated from German). He argued that partners already hold framework contracts and know their customers' IT environments, positioning them to widen the company's reach and shorten sales cycles.
What else? Recent partnerships with World Wide Technology and Brinqa extend NodeZero into exposure management and remediation orchestration. The platform's WebApp module now covers web applications, identities, infrastructure, and cloud environments, letting customers validate full attack paths from initial access to business impact.
The signal: Horizon3's bet reflects a wider shift in cybersecurity toward proactive, autonomous testing sold through trusted channel partners rather than direct sales. By keeping the high-margin services with partners and pouring capital into their enablement, the company is wagering that scale comes faster through the ecosystem than through its own salesforce.
Read more: Elektroniknet
Image credit: Idaho National Laboratory
