Webroot Inc.

Webroot was founded on July 5, 1997 when Steven Thomas and his girlfriend Kristen Tally launched Webroot's first commercial product, a trace removal agent called Webroot Window Washer. Investors include venture capital firms such as Technology Crossover Ventures, Accel Partners and Mayfield.

In 2002, Webroot launched a spyware blocking and removal product called Webroot Spy Sweeper. Webroot entered the enterprise market in 2004 with the launch of Webroot Spy Sweeper Enterprise, which combined Spy Sweeper with technology that enables IT administrators to deploy antispyware protection across an entire network.

In 2005, Thomas and Talley sold most of their shares in the company to a group of California investors as part of a $108 million deal. The company introduced antivirus protection with the launch of Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus in 2006. In October 2007, Webroot AntiVirus with AntiSpyware and Desktop Firewall was released with added firewall protection feature.

In October 2008, Webroot launched its first consumer security suite, Webroot Internet Security Essentials, in the United States. The international release of the security suite followed in early 2009.

In August 2009, Webroot appointed a new president and CEO, former CEO of Wily Technology.

In May 2010 Webroot announced plans to open its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. In July 2010 Webroot Internet Security Complete 2011 was released, including antivirus and antispyware protection, firewall capabilities, online back-up, password management licensed from LastPass, protection against identity theft and credit card monitoring for US customers.

In September 2010 Webroot opened a regional office in Leidschendam, The Netherlands which is primarily aimed at distributing Webroot's enterprise security-as-a-service (SaaS) products to businesses.

Webroot Mobile Security for Android was launched on April 5, 2011 for smartphones and tablets, with a free basic version and a paid premium version. The app is designed to protect against viruses from apps, threats delivered via web browsing and against the threats created when mobile devices are lost. The SecureAnywhere products launched on October 4, 2011, and the mobile security offerings were expanded to include the iOS mobile operating system.

In November 2007, Webroot acquired UK-based Email Systems (EMS) and announced itself as a provider in the security software-as-a-service (SaaS) market.

In December 2009, Webroot announced a partnership with virtual private network software provider AnchorFree. A version without advertisements of AnchorFree's VPN software with protection via Webroot's antivirus and antispyware software was produced.

In March 2010, Webroot announced the acquisition of Swedish corporate Internet security company, Email Systems Scandinavia (ESS).

In July 2010, Webroot acquired San Diego, California-based web content classification and security services provider, BrightCloud, adding its web reputation and content classification technology to existing products.