AnchorFree, the company behind Hotspot Shield, announced a $295 million funding round on September 5, 2018. WndrCo led the investment, with Accel Partners, 8VC, SignalFire, Green Bay Ventures and other investors participating. SecurityWeek reported that the deal brought AnchorFree’s total funding to nearly $358 million.
What AnchorFree announced
TechCrunch reported on September 5, 2018, that AnchorFree had announced the $295 million round. The report described Hotspot Shield as the company’s flagship VPN app and identified WndrCo as the lead investor, alongside Accel Partners, 8VC, SignalFire, Green Bay Ventures and others. TechCrunch’s September 5, 2018 report covered the announcement.
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SecurityWeek’s September 6, 2018 report put AnchorFree’s cumulative funding after the round at nearly $358 million. That is a reported approximate total, not an exact figure.
Who invested and what the funding was for
WndrCo led the round. Accel Partners, 8VC, SignalFire, Green Bay Ventures and other investors also participated, according to the contemporaneous reports.
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SecurityWeek said AnchorFree planned to put the funds toward product development, market expansion and mergers and acquisitions. The reports establish those announced intentions, but do not document how the money was ultimately spent.
AnchorFree and Hotspot Shield at the time
The 2018 coverage identified AnchorFree as the maker of Hotspot Shield. TechCrunch and SecurityWeek reported figures of 650 million downloads or users across 190 countries; the descriptions differ, and the figures were attributed to the company at the time rather than established as independently audited counts. SecurityWeek also reported AnchorFree’s claim of 250,000 new downloads per day.
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A New York Times report republished by WRAL described Hotspot Shield’s freemium model, in which some users paid for additional features. It also noted limits to VPN protection: a VPN routes network traffic through a provider, but that does not make every online activity private or protect against every kind of security incident. The report’s discussion of VPN limits should not be read to suggest that a VPN would have prevented unrelated incidents it mentioned. The New York Times report carried by WRAL provides that context.
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What the $295 million figure does—and does not—mean
The $295 million figure refers to the announced round, not AnchorFree’s total capital raised. SecurityWeek’s separate cumulative figure was nearly $358 million. Neither report establishes the later business results of the financing.
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This is a historical funding story, not evidence of current company or product status. The 2018 reports do not establish AnchorFree’s present corporate status, who operates Hotspot Shield today, or the service’s current terms.
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