The co-founders of Twistlock, a Silicon Valley startup acquired for $410 million four years after its 2015 launch, announced they have raised a $51 million seed round for their new security company, Gutsy, with headquarters in Baton Rouge.
The company expects to create at least 10 direct new jobs in Louisiana over the next two years with an average annual salary of $150,000. Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in an additional 12 indirect new jobs, for a total of 22 new jobs in the Capital Region.
“Louisiana has the No. 1 tech talent pipeline in the country, built on partnerships with our higher education institutions,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “We are quickly establishing our state as a hub for technology and innovation. I thank Gutsy for choosing Louisiana as the base of its next tech start-up, and creating quality, high-paying jobs for the state’s talented workforce.”
“We choose Baton Rouge and Louisiana because we know the talent and dedication of the people here,” said Gutsy Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer John Morello, a Louisiana native and Louisiana State University alumnus. “At Twistlock, our Baton Rouge team helped protect clouds you stream movies from, process mobile payments, and fly in the F-35. We know there are great people here with deep technical skills and real customer knowledge and we look forward to creating many more jobs with Gutsy. I also want to thank Rep. Garret Graves for his help navigating the federal side as we establish another international tech company in Baton Rouge.”