# Isaac Evans

> Isaac Evans is the Founder and CEO of Semgrep, the developer-first application security platform that has redefined how modern engineering teams handle code security. An MIT-trained computer scientist with a background in U.S. Department of Defense security research, Evans co-founded Semgrep in 2017 with college roommates Drew Dennison and Luke O'Malley. Under his leadership, Semgrep grew from a niche static analysis tool into a platform scanning 75+ million code repositories annually, serving customers like Figma, Dropbox, Slack, and Snowflake. In February 2025, the company closed a $100M Series D led by Menlo Ventures, bringing total funding to $193M. Evans's core thesis - that security must serve developers, not obstruct them - has made Semgrep a defining force in the AppSec category.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Semgrep
- **Organizations:** Semgrep, MIT, U.S. Department of Defense, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Redpoint Ventures
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master of Science, Computer Science (Computer Engineering), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded Semgrep, now scanning 75+ million repositories annually, Raised $193M in total venture funding across four rounds, Grew Semgrep to reach 20 million developers monthly through direct and integrated adoption

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Enrolled at MIT for Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- **2012** — Founded Silhouette Technologies (brief startup during undergrad)
- **2012-2015** — Participated in DARPA Robotics Challenge as member of MIT's robotics team
- **2013** — Undergraduate researcher at MIT CSAIL Robotics, Vision, and Sensor Networks Group
- **2013** — Graduated MIT with BS in EECS; joined U.S. Department of Defense as Computer Scientist
- **2014-2015** — Computer Scientist and Consultant at MIT Lincoln Laboratory
- **2015** — Completed Master of Science in Computer Science at MIT
- **2013-2016** — Computer Scientist at U.S. Department of Defense - researched binary exploitation bypass techniques
- **2016-2017** — Entrepreneur in Residence at Redpoint Ventures; conceptualized r2c with Drew Dennison
- **2017** — Co-founded r2c (later Semgrep) with Drew Dennison and Luke O'Malley
- **2019** — Recruited Yoann Padioleau (original sgrep author at Facebook) to transform the engine
- **2020** — Rebranded r2c to Semgrep; open-sourced Semgrep OSS; raised $13M Series A
- **2021** — Raised $27M Series B; Semgrep became GitLab's default SAST analyzer
- **2023** — Raised $53M Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners
- **2024** — Named to Fortune's Cyber 60 list for second consecutive year; launched Semgrep's AI-hybrid engine strategy
- **2025-02** — Closed $100M Series D led by Menlo Ventures; total funding reaches $193M

## Achievements

- Co-founded Semgrep, now scanning 75+ million repositories annually
- Raised $193M in total venture funding across four rounds
- Grew Semgrep to reach 20 million developers monthly through direct and integrated adoption
- Built security tooling used by Figma, Dropbox, Slack, Snowflake, Netflix, Salesforce, Stripe
- Recognized in Forbes Cybersecurity Awards 2020 as 'Disruptive Innovator'
- Recognized in Fortune Cyber 60 list two consecutive years
- First-time inclusion in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing
- Named to Inc.'s Best in Business List 2025 for Best AI Implementation
- Open-sourced Semgrep, attracting 3,000+ community-contributed security rules
- Achieved 96% security researcher agreement rate on true positives with Semgrep's AI-hybrid engine
- DoD SMART Fellowship recipient at MIT
- Participated in DARPA Robotics Challenge with MIT team

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Closed $100M Series D round led by Menlo Ventures; total funding reaches $193M
- **2025-02** — Semgrep recognized in 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Application Security Testing for first time
- **2025-01** — Named to Inc.'s Best in Business List for Best AI Implementation
- **2024-12** — Named to Fortune's Cyber 60 List for second consecutive year
- **2024-07** — Published thought leadership on failure of 'shift left' security and launched Semgrep's secure guardrails concept

## Links

- Website: https://semgrep.dev
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isaacevans
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/semgrep
- GitHub: https://github.com/ievans

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/isaac-evans
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12