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Dragos<\/a>, a company building software to secure the control systems for manufacturing and industrial equipment, has raised $74 million in a Series D round extension led by WestCap.<\/p>\n The round, which brings Dragos\u2019 total raised to $440 million, leaves the startup\u2019s post-money valuation unchanged for the second year at $1.7 billion. Dragos CEO Robert Lee says that the new money will be put toward \u201ccontinuing to grow and expand\u201d the company\u2019s customer base, which stands at around 400 organizations and governments.<\/p>\n \u201cEquity provides Dragos with the most operational flexibility,\u201d Lee told TechCrunch in an email interview. \u201cThe Series D funding extension will bolster Dragos\u2019 ability to make industrial cybersecurity more accessible around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Lee co-founded Hanover, Maryland-based Dragos with Justin Cavinee and Jon Lavender several years ago, inspired by his time in the U.S. Air Force as a cyber warfare operations officer. Through Dragos, Lee hoped to help asset owners and operators \u2014 specifically those in industries such as electric, water, oil and gas and chemical \u2014 protect infrastructure from threat actors that target the hardware monitoring, managing and controlling devices in industrial settings.<\/p>\n Data suggests that attacks on this hardware, known as industrial control systems, are increasing not only in frequency, but sophistication. Waterfall Security Solutions, a Dragos competitor, reported<\/a> 57 attacks on industrial control systems in 2022 \u2014 a 140% increase in the number of attacks versus the year prior.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a recent survey<\/a> by ABS Group, a consulting group for the marine and offshore oil, gas and chemical sectors, reveals that 45% of organizations believe threats to their control systems are \u201chigh,\u201d while another 15% agree that they\u2019re \u201csevere or critical.\u201d<\/p>\n