The co-founders of Twistlock, a Silicon Valley startup acquired for $410 million four years after its 2015 launch, announced they have raised a $51 million seed round for their new security company, Gutsy, with headquarters in Baton Rouge.
The company expects to create at least 10 direct new jobs in Louisiana over the next two years with an average annual salary of $150,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 12 indirect new jobs, for a total of 22 new jobs in the Capital Region.
“Louisiana has the No. 1 tech talent pipeline in the country, built on partnerships with our higher education institutions,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “We are quickly establishing our state as a hub for technology and innovation. I thank Gutsy for choosing Louisiana as the base of its next tech start-up, and creating quality, high-paying jobs for the state’s talented workforce.”
Gutsy’s mission is to help large organizations manage complex security processes like incident response and vulnerability management. The company applies process mining to cybersecurity, providing automatic, data-driven insights into how an organization's teams, tools and processes work together, and what outcomes they deliver. This technology also equips security leaders with the data to solve problems as they occur and make sound business decisions.
“We choose Baton Rouge and Louisiana because we know the talent and dedication of the people here,” said Gutsy Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer John Morello, a Louisiana native and Louisiana State University alumnus. “At Twistlock, our Baton Rouge team helped protect clouds you stream movies from, process mobile payments, and fly in the F-35. We know there are great people here with deep technical skills and real customer knowledge and we look forward to creating many more jobs with Gutsy. I also want to thank Rep. Garret Graves for his help navigating the federal side as we establish another international tech company in Baton Rouge.”
Gutsy began operations in late 2022 and has 25 staff members in Tel Aviv, Portland and New York. It is actively recruiting for software development, product management and sales professionals to its staff.
"I extend a warm and enthusiastic welcome to Gutsy to our vibrant city, where innovation and opportunity thrive,” Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said. “Their decision to establish headquarters here, creating opportunities and high-paying jobs, underscores Baton Rouge’s robust economic vitality, exemplifying the promising future our city offers.”
The company is expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs program.
“We had the pleasure of working with Gutsy’s founding team on their Twistlock entry into Baton Rouge in 2018, and we are thrilled they have chosen Baton Rouge again for their newest venture,” Baton Rouge Area Chamber Senior Vice President of Business Development Russell Richardson said. “This team is truly exceptional as they have raised an impressive $51 million in seed funding for their cybersecurity solutions. Their decision to locate Gutsy here is a representation of our growing tech sector and highlights our talent pipeline for meaningful careers in computer science. We look forward to their continued successes in our region.”