Respond Software

Respond Software carved a niche in the cybersecurity sector by focusing on automating the resource-intensive process of security incident investigation. Founded in 2016 by Mike Armistead, Chris Calvert, and Robert Hipps, the company was established to address the significant shortage of skilled security analysts. The founders brought extensive experience from their time at notable tech companies like HPE. Armistead, who served as CEO, previously co-founded Fortify Software and later managed both the Fortify and ArcSight business units at HP, giving him direct insight into the operational challenges of Security Operations Centers (SOCs). This background was pivotal in shaping the company's core product.

The company's flagship product, the Respond Analyst, operates as an eXtended Detection and Response (XDR) engine. It was engineered to function like a virtual security analyst, employing a proprietary intelligent decision engine based on Probabilistic Graphical Optimization (PGO) to automate the triage and investigation of security alerts. The system ingests and correlates data from a wide array of third-party security tools—over 65 different sensors—including those for endpoint protection, web filtering, and intrusion detection. By applying mathematical models and reasoning, the Respond Analyst connects disparate events to identify malicious patterns, such as command and control beaconing, thereby reducing false positives and allowing human analysts to focus on credible threats. This vendor-agnostic approach was a key aspect of its business model, providing flexibility to clients across sectors like finance, government, and retail.

Financially, Respond Software was venture-backed, securing a total of $32 million over two funding rounds. Its Series A round in August 2017 raised $12 million from CRV and Foundation Capital, followed by a $20 million Series B round in May 2019 led by ClearSky Security. This funding supported the company's growth and product development. The company's trajectory culminated in its acquisition by FireEye on November 18, 2020, for approximately $186 million in cash and stock. Following the acquisition, the Respond Analyst technology was integrated into FireEye's Mandiant Advantage platform to enhance its XDR capabilities, productize Mandiant's frontline intelligence, and scale its managed defense services.

Keywords: cybersecurity automation, security investigation, XDR engine, Respond Analyst, incident response, security operations center, SOC automation, Mike Armistead, robotic decision automation, threat detection, security analytics, Mandiant Advantage, FireEye acquisition, PGO technology, security alert triage, multi-vendor integration, virtual security analyst, ClearSky Security, Foundation Capital, CRV