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Prelert develops intelligent software for IT management and security, providing a behavioral analytics platform for real-time anomaly detection. Leveraging machine learning and automation, its technology identifies and isolates incident root causes within complex datasets, empowering organizations to proactively respond to disruptions and cyberthreats by discovering subtle patterns.
Stephen Dodson founded the company in 2008, driven by increasing IT environment complexity. His insight was to create a system automating anomaly discovery within vast operational data, enabling teams to predict and prevent issues. This advanced analytical capability aimed to enhance system resilience and operational efficiency.
Prelert’s solutions serve IT security, IT operations, and business operations teams. The company’s vision focuses on transforming enterprise monitoring and digital infrastructure security from reactive to predictive. It strives to provide organizations with clear insights and control over their data, anticipating and mitigating future challenges.
Prelert has raised $116.0M across 5 funding rounds.
Key people at Prelert.
Prelert was founded in 2008 by Shay Banon (CTO and Co-Founder) and Steven Schuurman (Founder and Board Member) and Uri Boness (Founder) and Simon Willnauer (Founder & Tech lead Elasticsearch).
Prelert has raised $116.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Key people at Prelert.
Prelert was founded in 2008 by Shay Banon (CTO and Co-Founder) and Steven Schuurman (Founder and Board Member) and Uri Boness (Founder) and Simon Willnauer (Founder & Tech lead Elasticsearch).
Prelert has raised $116.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Prelert's investors include Intel Capital, Founders Fund, Glasswing Ventures, Fairhaven Capital, Sierra Ventures, Harry Weller, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Mike Volpi, Peter Fenton, Ronald Conway, Rod Johnson.
Prelert was a technology company specializing in behavioral analytics software powered by unsupervised machine learning to automate anomaly detection in large datasets.[1][2] It built a platform that analyzed log and operational data to identify anomalies, link events, and provide actionable insights without requiring data science expertise, serving IT security, operations, and business teams in enterprises across sectors like cybersecurity, finance, manufacturing, and government.[2][3][4] The product solved problems such as detecting advanced threats, fraud patterns, IT outages, and performance issues by explaining "why" events occur and predicting outcomes, with integrations for tools like Elasticsearch and Splunk.[1][2][5] Acquired by Elastic in 2016, its technology was integrated into the Elastic Stack for subscription offerings starting in 2017, enhancing capabilities in cybersecurity, fraud detection, and IT analytics; post-acquisition, Prelert operated as "an Elastic company" with reported 2024 revenue of $6 million and minimal staff.[1][2][4]
Prelert was founded in 2008 (with some sources noting 2009) in the UK, initially with a London office, and later established a US headquarters in Framingham, Massachusetts.[1][2][3][4] The company emerged to address the need for automated anomaly detection in massive, complex datasets amid growing big data volumes from sources like logs, servers, and networks.[1][2] Early focus was on unsupervised machine learning for behavioral analytics, providing a consumable app that predicted failures, alerted users, and reduced manual analysis—pivotal for IT ops and security.[1][5] A key moment was building native integrations with Elasticsearch and Splunk, gaining traction with progressive IT organizations like Equens for real-time monitoring and root cause analysis, which propelled it toward acquisition by Elastic in 2016.[1][2][5]
Prelert rode the early 2010s explosion in big data, search, and analytics, where enterprises amassed unstructured logs but struggled with manual anomaly hunting amid rising cyberthreats and IT complexity.[1][2] Its timing aligned with Elasticsearch's rise as a search/logging foundation and the shift to machine learning for operational intelligence, filling gaps in tools like Splunk by automating "why" analysis.[1][5] Market forces favoring it included surging data volumes, DevOps/ITSM demands, and needs for proactive security/fraud detection in cloud-native environments.[4][5] Post-acquisition, Prelert influenced the ecosystem by embedding behavioral analytics into Elastic Stack, democratizing ML-driven insights for thousands of users and accelerating adoption in cybersecurity and observability.[1][2]
As an integrated Elastic technology since 2017, Prelert's anomaly detection lives on within Elastic's observability and security suites, likely evolving with AI advancements like generative models for even smarter threat hunting. Trends such as zero-trust security, real-time AI ops, and exploding edge/IoT data will amplify its relevance, potentially expanding to predictive maintenance in AI-driven enterprises. Its legacy underscores how specialized ML startups fuel incumbents' dominance, positioning Elastic—and Prelert's DNA—for outsized influence in the $100B+ observability market, tying back to its founding mission of letting data "tell the story" autonomously.[1][2][4]
Prelert has raised $116.0M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $8.0M Series B in November 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2014 | $8.0M Series B | Intel Capital | Founders Fund, Glasswing Ventures, Fairhaven Capital, Sierra Ventures |
| Jun 5, 2014 | $70.0M Elasticsearch - Series C | Harry Weller | Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures |
| Feb 19, 2013 | $24.0M Elasticsearch - Series B | Mike Volpi | Peter Fenton, Ronald Conway |
| Nov 8, 2012 | $10.0M Elasticsearch - Series A | Peter Fenton | Rod Johnson, Data Collective |
| Sep 1, 2010 | $4.0M Series A | Glasswing Ventures, Fairhaven Capital, Sierra Ventures |