NordVPN has long been one of our favourite VPNs and one of its big selling points is undoubtedly its low prices.

But despite that, its parent company, Nord Security, has managed to raise US$100 million in its latest funding round, a move which values the business at more than US$1.6 billion.

The new funding has been earmarked to expand Nord Security’s product suite and enterprise footprint.

It will also be used to accelerate the growth of Surfshark VPN, the provider which exploded onto the VPN scene in a big way a couple of years back and was claimed to have merged with Nord Security earlier this year.

Who is investing in Nord Security?

The US$100 million in new funding is coming from a range of different sources. The leading participants were Novator Ventures with Burda Principal Investments and General Catalyst also providing significant sums.

Novator Ventures is an international growth equity fund that focuses on digital and technologically innovative businesses. They have previously invested in a number of familiar companies including Zwift, Monzo, Tier, and AppLovin.

Novator’s Managing Partner, Birgir Már Ragnarsson will also be joining the board of Nord Security.

Speaking on the announcement of this funding round, he said Nord Security are “well-positioned to deliver and usher in the new era of internet security with a powerful and best-in-class suite of privacy and security tools, designed to protect information, accounts and networks.”

“It’s rare to find a company that can already demonstrate such an excellent track record, brand credibility and unwavering focus on serving customers,” he added, “so we are delighted to partner with Nord Security to support the team as they execute their vision at scale.”

Burda Principal Investments is a division of Hubert Burda Media, one of Europe’s largest media and technology conglomerates. It has a strong record in investment in online businesses stretching back more than twenty years.

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in entrepreneurs and business founders with bold long-term visions for their businesses. Other investment has come from angel investors including, Ilkka Paananen (CEO, Supercell), Miki Kuusi (CEO, Wolt) and Matt Mullenweg (CEO, Automattic).

What’s the future for Nord Security?

In announcing the deal, Nord Security co-founders Tom Okman and Eimantas Sabaliauskas stressed the company’s ambition to build a company which can offer a more holistic approach to online security.

They note that by 2025, online crime is expected to cost the global economy an enormous US$10.5 trillion. That is a vast sum and means that businesses and consumers are looking for reliable solutions.

Nord Security wants to be a company that can provide that and restore trust in the online world again. While NordVPN was their first online privacy and security tool and remains perhaps their best-known, Nord Security has ventured off in various other directions too.

It has bought Atlas VPN and also merged with Surfshark VPN and it is clear from this announcement that Nord Security plans to invest in both of those providers as well as NordVPN to keep them at the cutting edge of the VPN market.

Their stable also includes NordPass, their own password manager, NordLocker. An encrypted cloud storage solution, and NordLayer a tool which offers network access security.

The release also notes that Surfshark offers features including antivirus, alert (an online data breach detector), search (a privacy search tool), and Incogni (a data deletion tool for online databases). There is a reference to CyberCare, a customer success company that was jumpstarted by Nord Security too.

It is clear that the ambition is to bring all of these resources together across their various brands and that can only be good news for users of NordVPN, Surfshark, and Atlas VPN.

The new funding will see Nord Security hire more staff across the whole business and also undertake acquisitive growth and intensive R&D on new platform features.

As Tom Okman, one of Nord Security’s Co-Founders explained, “Ten years ago, we set out to create security and privacy tools which would help create a safer and more peaceful online future.”

“In our investors, we have found partners who believe in our mission as much as we do, which will allow us to grow faster and double down on our aspiration to build a radically better internet.”

It is a bold and confident vision for the future and there is no doubt that Nord Security is well placed to lead the way to a strong new private and secure online world.

That can only be a good thing for users of the three VPNs in their stable and internet users worldwide.