May 2, 2023

NetRise – a company that is providing visibility into the world’s Extended Internet of Things (XIoT) security problem – announced $8 million in funding. This funding round was led by Squadra Ventures, with participation by existing major investors Miramar Digital Ventures, Sorenson Ventures and DNX Ventures. The company has developed a cloud-based SaaS platform that analyzes and continuously monitors the firmware of Extended Internet of Things (XIoT) devices. And leading the market as a software supply chain detection and response platform, NetRise enables device manufacturers and enterprise customers to detect, respond to, and prevent threats throughout their supply chains. This funding round will enable NetRise to expand its platform capabilities such as coverage for Windows systems and containers as well as the development of additional machine learning models for advanced analysis. As threats and vulnerabilities have been rising across the enterprise, commercial and consumer devices that are connected to the internet and each other are a critical blind spot for security operations and vulnerability management teams. And the firmware that powers these devices and allows them to connect to larger systems is critical for integrated functionality but creates a major vulnerability and neglected attack surface. By adding these additional capabilities, NetRise is going to continue to help both enterprise and device manufacturer customers to understand what’s inside not only their devices, but its entire software supply chain to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. And the NetRise platform enables continuous monitoring and analysis, compliance assessment and recommendations, real-time risk tracking, and the generation, storage, and management of Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs). Plus NetRise reduces the time and cost of firmware and software supply chain security programs, allowing organizations to quickly find and remediate previously undetected issues. KEY QUOTES: “Firmware security is not a problem that is relegated to a particular vertical or industry. We have built our platform in such a way that support for automotive, networking equipment, consumer IoT, industrial control systems, and medical device firmware alike are all supported. While working at the Department of Energy, I saw firsthand how little insight we had into the vulnerabilities and risks embedded in technology critical to every aspect of our daily lives. Our vision is that every technology user understands the ingredients in their tools and the potential implications of those components, no matter the source.” Tom Pace, co-founder and CEO of NetRise “The NetRise platform delivers unprecedented automation and scale, making continuous monitoring a reality for enterprise XIoT. We are seeing massive global acceleration in the market as companies around the world are looking to drive visibility into the software supply chain. With SBOM regulation and requirements looming, NetRise could not be more perfectly positioned.” Adam Bixler, Cybersecurity Principal for Squadra Ventures “Tom and his team are experienced, gritty, driven, and will outwork anyone in the room. They are world-class and will continue to innovate ahead of the market and bring critical technology to the industry just in time, as the White House and other regulatory agencies pressure manufacturers and software providers to infuse security into devices and disclose critical vulnerabilities.” Guy Filippelli, Managing Partner at Squadra Ventures Trending on Pulse 2.0