Why Georgian Invested in Island (Again)

Island, the developer of the Enterprise Browser, emerged from stealth in early 2022 with a mission to change the way organizations protect their employees, critical data, and applications—while reducing friction for knowledge workers, IT departments, and security teams around the world. By embedding security and productivity capabilities directly into the web browser, Island has redefined secure workforce enablement for organizations across a variety of industries and sizes. Since its founding in 2020, Island has achieved remarkable growth, winning 450 customers—including Fortune 100 enterprises and small to mid-market companies—and doubling its annual recurring revenue each year since it launched. This momentum has contributed to Island’s valuation reaching $4.8B in less than five years.

Georgian’s journey with Island began in November 2022 when we led an extension of the company’s Series B fundraise. Since then, Georgian has continued to support Island through multiple funding rounds, and now, through Alignment Fund II, we are excited to announce our participation in Island’s $250M Series E. This investment is an example of how Georgian supports Growth Fund investments as they scale.

The Browser as a Strategic Security Layer 

Web browsers have been a ubiquitous yet vulnerable element of enterprise technology stacks since the early days of the internet. Many of these risks are linked to evolving trends and work models, and will likely increase over time, leaving network and user attack vectors more vulnerable. Recent studies indicate that browser-based attacks rank among the most significant risks to enterprise security programs, data showing a 140% increase in browser-based phishing attacks since 2023.

The importance of securing browser sessions continues to increase as workloads move to cloud-based applications. Workers today tend to treat their browsers like a modern operating system, with all of the applications required to perform their day-to-day tasks contained within the browser. With traditional browsers, requires CIOs and CISOs to rely on a fragmented array of cybersecurity tools built around the browser to govern and protect workers, which comes at a cost, resulting in increased expenditure and tool sprawl.

By consolidating the capabilities previously offered by various point solutions, Island’s Enterprise Browser offers a secure and efficient solution tailored to the needs of modern enterprises. Gartner predicts enterprise browsers will become the core platform for delivering workforce productivity and security by 2030, underscoring the importance of Island’s innovative approach to solving the security challenges presented by legacy browser technology.

Why Island?

1. Creating and Growing a New Category. By pioneering the Enterprise Browser, we believe that Island has established a new category with a novel approach for addressing enterprise security.  By embedding core IT, security and productivity features into the browser itself, the Enterprise Browser innovation represents an exciting greenfield opportunity in cybersecurity and IT. We believe that Island is well-positioned to capture the enterprise browser market opportunity, with analyst projections indicating significant growth in this sector.
2. Customer Adoption and Feedback. Island’s solution has gained strong traction, winning 450 customers across diverse industries. Customer feedback highlights the ease of deploying the Enterprise Browser, as well as its extensive feature set and user-friendly experience. Island earned the 2023 Gartner Peer Insights “Voice of the Customer” award for Security Service Edge, with 100% of 84 verified users recommending the solution.
3. Experienced Leadership Team. Island’s leadership team is composed of seasoned professionals in the cybersecurity industry. CEO and Co-Founder Mike Fey brings decades of experience leading global security organizations, while, Dan Amiga, CTO and Co-Founder, is recognized for his work pioneering Web Isolation technology as Founder and CTO at Fireglass. Together, they’ve assembled a team of industry veterans, contributing to our belief in Island’s potential to lead in this emerging category.

At Georgian, we’re excited to continue this journey and look forward to helping Island unlock the full potential of the future of work and the power of the Enterprise Browser.