COLUMBIA, Md. -- Open source innovator, Sourcefire, the world leader in network intrusion prevention, today announced that the company has secured $20 million in late-stage funding led by Meritech Capital Partners, a leading provider of late-stage venture capital to premier information technology companies. All previous Sourcefire venture investors, Sierra Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, Sequoia Capital, Core Capital Partners, and Inflection Point Ventures also participated in the round. After more than four years of record growth that saw Sourcefire reach key milestones including profitability and positive cash flows, this capital will provide Sourcefire with both a ‘bullet-proof’ balance sheet and the resources needed to aggressively pursue new market opportunities and product innovations.

“Sourcefire is everything Meritech Capital looks for in a portfolio company,” said Mike Gordon of Meritech Capital. “Their combination of innovative technologies, revenue growth, and successful and focused leadership, ensures that Sourcefire will be a long-term industry standout. We are confident Sourcefire will continue to build its momentum and market leadership with diversified, in-demand solutions.”

Founded in 2001, Sourcefire is best known for its enormously popular Snort open source intrusion prevention technology. The synergies between Snort and Sourcefire’s commercial innovations have made Sourcefire one of the most successful privately-held security companies in the industry having garnered more than sixteen awards for its technology and business success since the beginning of 2005. In December 2005, Sourcefire was the only private company named to the Leaders Quadrant of the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Intrusion Prevention System Appliances, 2H05 report.

In 2006, the Sourcefire 3D System has already taken top honors at the annual SC Magazine Awards, being named the Best Security Solution in the U.S., and was named the “Security Product of the Year” at the European NetEvents “Technology Leader” Awards. SC Magazine previously identified the Sourcefire 3D System as “Best IPS on the Market” in its July 2005 issue.

“We believe that this is the perfect time for Sourcefire to broaden its leadership in next generation network security. With this capital infusion we will be able to extend our technology innovations into attractive related markets while continuing to grow worldwide market share,” said Wayne Jackson, CEO of Sourcefire. “Our extraordinary team combined with a strong Q1 and accelerating pipeline growth allowed us to attract the venture industry’s finest firms before concluding that Meritech represented the ideal late-stage partner.”

Sourcefire Inc. (Nasdaq: FIRE)