Microsoft is investing in cloud-based data management startup Rubrik as part of a broader effort to bring zero-trust protection to hybrid cloud environments, including Microsoft 365.

Rubrik was founded in 2014 and has raised a total of $553 million in funding, Crunchbase reports. Its technology was built to help organizations better protect their backup data so it can't be modified or overwritten, and to find sensitive data so it can be recovered as needed. Rubrik already offers cloud backup and recovery for Azure, Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft 365, among other cloud services.

As part of the agreement announced this week, Microsoft will make an equity investment in Rubrik that will go toward go-to-market activities and co-engineering projects to create zero-trust data security tools built on Microsoft Azure. Together, the companies plan to provide Microsoft 365, hybrid cloud data protection, and integrated cloud services on Azure, according to a statement from Rubrik.

"This work will address rising customer needs to protect against surging ransomware attacks, which are growing 150% annually," Rubrik officials said, citing data from Group-IB. Rubrik is already working to address data challenges such as ransomware recovery, automating data operations, and transitioning data to the cloud. This partnership "brings these offerings to the next level," the company said.

The collaboration builds on Microsoft and Rubrik's existing relationship, which supports more than 2,000 mutual customers. As part of this effort, customers and partners will receive additional data protection, and Rubrik will offer additional support and security for Microsoft 365, including instant search and restore, and policy-based management at scale. Microsoft and Rubrik will also provide long-term archival of Microsoft 365 data for compliance purposes.

Neither Microsoft nor Rubrik disclosed the financial terms of the investment; however, a source told Bloomberg the funding "totaled in the low tens of millions" and valued Rubrik around $4 billion.

Read Rubrik's full release for more details.