SafeHouse Technologies Ltd, a startup focussed on mobile-first cybersecurity, has raised $2.2 million (approximately Rs 15.55 crore at current exchange rates) in a seed funding round led by Barclays UK Ventures, the venture capital business unit of British multinational financial services group Barclays.
Other investors that participated in the funding round include Purnendu Chatterjee, the founder and chairman of The Chatterjee Group, SafeHouse said in a statement.
Aditya Narang, co-founder at SafeHouse, said the funds will be used for promoting BodyGuard, its flagship security app, and increase its investment in research and development.
“The cyber defense technology we have developed is being made accessible to all types of users: government institutions, banks, SMEs, and even individuals,” he said.
The company will also be expanding its operations into India and the United Kingdom, the statement added.
The Tel Aviv-based SafeHouse said that the company was now entering the public domain, having been operating in ‘stealth mode’ since its inception in 2016.
Previously, the firm has also been backed by ESP Das, the former vice chairman of Merrill Lynch. In 2017, the company was picked up for incubation by CyLon Labs, which is backed by British defence and aerospace company BAE Systems and Winston Capital. The following year, it was chosen to be part of the Techstars and Barclays accelerator programme.
SafeHouse was founded by Aditya Narang and Liad Herman. Its flagship product, BodyGuard, functions by proactively secures end-users in real-time from a wide range of cyber-attacks including phishing, ransomware and malicious links. SafeHouse claims it has already shipped at least one lakh units to more than 5,000 stores across the country.
The investment in SafeHouse represents the growing attraction of the cybersecurity segment to investors, as the threat and frequency of attacks on enterprise and individuals’ data continues to grow.
For instance, in June, software engineering and services provider Cyient invested in Israeli rail cybersecurity firm Cylus Ltd., which was in line with its strategy of developing mobility solutions.
Prior to that, in March, National Stock Exchange subsidiary NSEIT Ltd acquired security company Aujas Networks Pvt. Ltd. to bolster its IT security offerings. According to VCCEdge, the database platform of Mosaic Digital, IDG Ventures, Rajasthan Venture Capital Fund and IvyCap Ventures had invested in Aujas over the years. In 2013, the company had raised $4.95 million from these investment firms.
In February, information security risk management solutions provider CloudSEK Info Security Pvt. Ltd. said that it had raised Rs 3.5 crore (around $490,000) in a funding round from IDFC Parampura Early Stage Opportunities Fund.
