Mobile cybersecurity company Guardsquare recently raised $29 million investment in its first round of institutional financing round led by Battery Ventures. The Belgium-based company also added Battery Venture’s General Partner Dharmesh Thakker and Principal Paul Morrissey to its leadership team. Guardsquare stated the new funds will be used to leverage its investment in sales, marketing, R&D, and customer-success efforts.
Guardsquare provides premium security solutions for the protection of mobile applications against reverse engineering and cyber hacks. The company claims that its technology is already embedded in more than quarter of Android apps and its software products are used across various industries, like financial services, e-commerce, public sector enterprises, telecommunication, gaming, and media.
“As companies deploy rich applications quickly—including apps tied to new, Internet-enabled devices—the attack surface for hackers and other bad actors is increasing, making cybersecurity an increasingly complex problem,” said Heidi Rakels, co-founder and president of Guardsquare. “Our products are being used by the world’s biggest banks, IT providers and credit-card companies to protect their brands—and their bottom lines—against such malicious threats.”
Speaking on the investment move, Battery’s Dharmesh Thakker said, “Mobile technology, Internet-enabled sensors and other mega technology trends are transforming the cybersecurity landscape, and there is a growing recognition that endpoint security—securing your actual mobile apps on the devices were people are using them—is increasingly critical for organizations. We were also impressed with how Guardsquare has developed a compelling business model from a viral and successful open-source project, something we are seeing more and more with open-source companies in a variety of sectors. The company’s growth is extremely impressive, and we are honored to partner with Roel, Heidi, and Eric to take Guardsquare’s business to the next level.”
