Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, RRE Ventures, Goldman Sachs, and Amazon.
Cybersecurity email threats, especially those known as spear phishing attacks, are on the rise. These attacks most often use spoof emails that are designed to trick users into divulging sensitive information such as usernames and passwords. Recently, phishing has been linked to high profile data breaches, including the release of sensitive emails from Democratic National Committee members in the lead up to the 2016 US presidential election.
As phishing schemes become more common, startups are offering cybersecurity products and services to counter these and other email-based attacks. Solutions range from email filtering software, to cyber defense training for employees, and more.
Using CB Insights database we identified 10 email security startups to watch. The companies range from early-stage startups (Seed – Series A) to established companies (Series B+). We selected these companies based on their Mosaic score, CB Insights’ algorithm that uses financial and non-financial signals to predict private company health. For more information on CB Insights’ Mosaic scoring tool read this.
The companies on our list all obtained funding since 2016, and have raised at least $1M.
1. Ionic Security
Ionic Security provides a data protection and control platform for structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data in emails, as well as protection for data in documents, applications, data repositories, and machine data.
Total Disclosed Funding: $122.5M
Latest Investment Round: $45M Series D
Select Investors: Amazon, Goldman Sachs, ff Venture Capital
2. PhishMe
PhishMe provides threat management solutions for organizations and employees to counter advanced targeted phishing attacks.
Total Disclosed Funding: $58M
Latest Investment Round: $42.5M Series C
Select Investors: Paladin Capital Group, Aldrich Capital Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners
3. Agari Data
Agari Data provides a cloud-based solution to assess, visualize, and protect against email threats to brands, such as phishing and other fraud.
Total Disclosed Funding: $46.5M
Latest Investment Round: $22M Series D
Select Investors: First Round Capital, Battery Ventures, Alloy Ventures
4. Virtru
Virtru offers a single plug-in with the ability to control who receives, reviews, and retains sensitive data in emails.
Total Disclosed Funding: $39M
Latest Investment Round: $29M Series A
Select Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Haystack Partners
5. KnowBe4
KnowBe4 provides an integrated Security Awareness Training and Simulated Phishing platform that allows organizations to thwart social engineering tactics.
Total Disclosed Funding: $8M
Latest Investment Round: $8M Series A
Select Investors: Elephant Partners
6. Emailage
Emailage leverages email addresses to predict valid transactions and flag fraudulent ones.
Total Disclosed Funding: $5.68M
Latest Investment Round: $1.87M Series A II
Select Investors: Wipro Ventures, Double M Partners, Felicis Ventures
7. Votiro
Votiro offers a secure email gateway and patented Zero-Day Exploit Protection technology to help cleanse incoming files of potential cyber threats.
Total Disclosed Funding: $4M
Latest Investment Round: $4M Series A
Select Investors: Redfield Asset Management
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Track cybersecurity startups8. GreatHorn
GreatHorn offers security for cloud-based communication systems, helping to detect and stop spear phishing and credential theft attacks in real time.
Total Disclosed Funding: $2.37M
Latest Investment Round: $2.25M Seed VC
Select Investors: Techstars, Soft Tech VC, RRE Ventures
9. IronScales
IronScales is a security assessment and training platform, built for reducing the risk of infiltration associated with spear phishing.
Total Disclosed Funding: $1.5M
Latest Investment Round: $1.5M Seed VC
Select Investors: RDSeed, 8200 EISP
10. MailControl
MailControl provides a SaaS-based enterprise class email security platform that detects and deactivates hidden tracking codes in email messages.
Total Disclosed Funding: $1M
Latest Investment Round: $1M Seed VC
Select Investors: Guild Capital
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This report was created with data from CB Insights’ emerging technology insights platform, which offers clarity into emerging tech and new business strategies through tools like:
- Earnings Transcripts Search Engine & Analytics to get an information edge on competitors’ and incumbents’ strategies
- Patent Analytics to see where innovation is happening next
- Company Mosaic Scores to evaluate startup health, based on our National Science Foundation-backed algorithm
- Business Relationships to quickly see a company’s competitors, partners, and more
- Market Sizing Tools to visualize market growth and spot the next big opportunity