AnchorFree is an internet privacy and security company that provides businesses and consumers with advanced technologies to enable secure and private

web browsing Web navigation refers to the process of navigating a Computer network, network of web resource, information resources in the International World Wide Web Conference, World Wide Web, which is organized as hypertext or hypermedia. The user interfac ...

. The company's flagship product is Hotspot Shield, a popular

virtual private network Virtual private network (VPN) is a network architecture for virtually extending a private network (i.e. any computer network which is not the public Internet) across one or multiple other networks which are either untrusted (as they are not con ...

(VPN) service and the top-grossing app for productivity in the Apple

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

. The company is led by David Gorodyansky, who founded the firm in 2005 with his friend Eugene Malobrodsky. AnchorFree is headquartered in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

, with offices in Ukraine and Russia. Its most recent fundraising round in 2018 brought in $295 million, bringing total funding to $358 million.

Platforms and users

The company works with a '

freemium Freemium, a portmanteau of the words "free" and "premium", is a pricing strategy by which a basic product or service is provided free of charge, but money (a premium) is charged for additional features, services, or virtual (online) or physical ( ...

' model and provides free software with general features and a paid version with certain enhanced features, such as virtual server locations, improved speeds, unlimited bandwidth, and 24/7 live support. The software is backed by AnchorFree's Hydra technology. AnchorFree's apps are available for desktops and mobile devices using

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

, Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

s. The software has been downloaded 650 million times. Additionally, AnchorFree's proprietary technology is utilized by 60% of the world's reputable security companies and several global telecommunication companies. Hotspot Shield is a significant app in countries where the Internet is censored. The app allows users to gain access to restricted websites privately and securely. The firm reported an increase in its Egyptian user base from 100,000 users to one million during the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

in 2010. During this time, the program was used to access

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

websites like

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

to organize protests. It was also used in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

and

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

before the

. With Baglan Rhymes and subsequently, Michael Geer joining the company and spearheading growth, operations and revenue, In 2012, after reaching 60 million downloads, the company announced it had raised $52 million in financing from

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

. Since then, AnchorFree's user base has surpassed 650 million downloads. The increase was driven in part by users’ desires to protect themselves online after major privacy and security events like the Equifax data breach, KRACK vulnerability, and the FCC's scrapping of Net Neutrality regulations. In 2018, the company announced that it had secured a further $295 million in funding from WndrCo, an investment company founded by Ann Daly, Sujay Jaswa, and

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg ( ; born December 21, 1950) is an American media proprietor and film producer. He served as chairman of Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994, a position in which he oversaw production and busin ...

Reviews and awards

In January 2019,

TechRadar ''TechRadar'' is an online technology publication owned by Future plc. It has editorial teams in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia that provide news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2008 and expanded t ...

gave AnchorFree's Hotspot Shield 4 out of 5 stars calling it a “''premium VPN for users who value speed.''” Reviewer Mike Williams summarized by saying “''if raw speed is your top priority, its turbo-charged performance could justify signing up all on its own''". In 2019,

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

named AnchorFree the 13th most innovative company in the world and the No. 1 most innovative security company.

AV-Test AV-TEST is an independent organization which evaluates and rates antivirus and security suite software for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Android operating systems, according to a variety of criteria. The organisation is based in Magdeburg, Germany ...

, a reputed security auditor, called AnchorFree's technology the fastest, most secure on the market. The

Appy Awards Carphone Warehouse is a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Carphone Wareho ...

named Hotspot Shield the best Online Security/Privacy Application in 2013. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine, for which the company's CEO has written articles, named AnchorFree America's sixth most promising company in 2013. ''

Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...

'' named AnchorFree as one of the 15 most important security

startups A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

of 2013.

Critical reception

In August 2017, the

Center for Democracy and Technology Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a Washington, D.C.–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advocates for digital rights and freedom of expression. CDT seeks to promote legislation that enables individuals to use the Internet for ...

issued an open complaint to the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

, which stated "concerns undisclosed and unclear data sharing and traffic redirection occurring in Hotspot Shield Free VPN that should be considered unfair and deceptive trade practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act." CDT "partnered with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University to analyze the app and the service and found 'undisclosed data sharing practices' with advertising networks."

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.anchorfree.com/ Technology companies established in 2005 American companies established in 2005 2005 establishments in the United States Companies based in Mountain View, California Privately held companies based in California Virtual private networks