Application security startup Contrast Security Inc. has raised $30 million in a Series C round led by Battery Ventures that included previous investors General Catalyst and Acero Capital.

Founded in 2014, Contrast Security provides “self-protecting” security software that protects enterprise software applications from within. The company’s Contrast Assess and Contrast Protect products work together across popular development and deployment methods such as Agile, cloud and containers, to enable protection through the software lifecycle.

Contrast Security’s system enables enterprise developers to build security functionality into their projects quickly by embedding an agent that can be set up without making code changes, doesn’t require modifying any configuration settings and takes about a minute to install. Once in place, the module can immediately start monitoring an application’s internal components using a threat detection method described as “deep security instrumentation.”

“We live in a world based on software that is inherently risky and businesses, consumers and shareholders are paying the price. As we’ve seen with Equifax, the software security problem is real, costly and complex, while the solution is quite simple,” Contrast Security Chief Executive Officer Alan Naumann said in a statement. “Contrast Security has already proven that companies can, in fact, respond quickly and effectively to vulnerabilities before attacks even start.

Lance Harris, chief information security officer at Esurance, explained the need further: “Application security is absolutely critical and we encourage the rest of the industry to take the same measures to ensure their applications are safe.”

Including the new round, Contrast Security has raised $54 million to date. The company said it would use the funding to accelerate its technology development and global expansion.

Image: Contrast Security