• Venture capitalSecret raises $10 million at a $50 million valuation

    Secret allows users to post messages to their circles of contacts without identifying themselves as the source of the posted message. The start-up, which was launched in January, has closed a $10 million round of funding at a $50 million post-money valuation. The funding was led by Google Ventures, with participation from KPCB.

  • BusinessBlackstone to acquire Accuvant, an enterprise information security specialist

    Denver, Colorado-based Accuvant, a specialist in enterprise information security, has reached a definitive agreement under which Blackstone will acquire a majority stake in Accuvant as part of their private equity portfolio. The transaction is expected to close in April pending relevant regulatory approvals.

  • CybersecurityBGU startup Titanium Core wins Cybertition cyber security competition

    Ben-Gurion University of the Negev startup Titanium Core won the first Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP)-sponsored Cybertition cyber security competition. Titanium Core uses a multilayered security approach to repel attacks on mission-critical systems, provide real-time attack information, and prevent threats from moving onto other computer systems. The company will receive $1 Million investment from JVP and space in the JVP Cyber Labs incubator, located in the cyber center in Beer-Sheva, adjacent to Ben-Gurion University.

  • Venture capitalCounterTack, developer of an end-point threat detection solution, closes out Series B funding at $15 million

    CounterTack, a developer of real-time endpoint threat detection solutions, has closed out its Series B financing round with an additional $3 million to complete a $15 million raised. With this extension, the Venture Capital unit of Siemens (SFS VC) joins CounterTack investors including Goldman Sachs, Fairhaven Capital, and a group of private financiers to fund an accelerated technology expansion and market delivery of CounterTack’s Sentinel platform.

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  • Venture capitalCloudLock, a cloud security specialist, raises $16.5 million Series C round

    CloudLock, a cloud security specialist, has raised $16.5 million in a Series C funding round from new investor Bessemer Venture Partners, and participation of existing investors Cedar Fund and Ascent Venture Partners. The company says that 2013 saw continuing growth in adoption by cloud-bound organizations of the company’s people-centric security automation approach, with a pure SaaS content-aware and policy-based solution, by companies in different verticals, across multiple cloud platforms like Google Apps and Salesforce.

  • Venture capitalCloud security specialist Apprity announces $8 million Series A round

    Santa Clara, California-based Apprity, a stealth Cloud Security company, the other day announced an $8 million Series A round of venture capital funding. The company notes that more and more business processes and applications are being transitioned to the cloud, but that the promise of Cloud and SaaS applications, combined with trends of Mobility, Bring-your-own-Device (BYOD), and the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is constrained by multiplying cyber threats. While security vendors typically focus on providing solutions for securing the perimeter, Apprity says it focuses on the need for a modern approach to Cloud security, and is developing patent-pending technology to address today’s complex business requirements.

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  • Venture capitalDNA data management specialist DNAnexus secures $15 million in Series C financing

    Mountain View, California-based DNAnexus, a specialist in cloud-based solutions for large-scale DNA data management and analysis, on Friday announced that it has closed a $15 million Series C funding led by Claremont Creek Ventures, Google Ventures, TPG Biotech, and First Round Capital. The company says that its Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is being adopted by more customers seeking a solution to the needs of global enterprises face when building clinically compliant analysis pipelines for DNA sequence data.

  • New Silicon Valley focus on cybersecurity

    The last time Silicon Valley focused on cybersecurity was in the 1990s. That focus saw the emergence of two giants: McAfee and Symantec. The two companies remain the most recognizable household names, thanks to their traditional firewall and anti-virus products. Now they find the arena which they thought was their own encroached from two sides. On one side there are tech giants like Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems, which see new revenue opportunity in cybersecurity. On the other side there is a rush of start-ups backed by large investments of venture capital.

  • Venture capitalCompass-EOS closes $42 million funding round

    Compass-EOS closes $42 million round. The company’s icPhotonics technology aims to disrupt the routing industry with efficient routers using novel optical backplane.

  • Venture capitalPasswordbox raises $6 million in Series A funding

    PasswordBox emerged last June with a downloaded computer and mobile app which creates, saves, and manages every password a user has while keeping them safe with AES 256-bit encryption. The $6 million — raised in sixty days, closing in August – will go toward the imminent acquisition of a small company. PasswordBox declined to discuss which company or in what space the target operates.

  • Venture capitalIID raises $8 million to scale shared cyberintelligence offering

    Despite the growing danger posed by cybercrime, information vital to stemming the tide is fragmented across the Internet today. Pockets of data about threat activity are siloed within the repositories of individual enterprises, government organizations, vendor networks, and research institutions. IID’s ActiveTrust enables enterprises and government agencies to combat the rising frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks by sharing cyber incident data in real time. IID has raised $8 million in Series A funding from Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), and said it will use the investment to accommodate growing demand for ActiveTrust.

  • Venture capitalUAV developer CyPhy Works raises $7 million to build flying robots

    Danvers, Massachusetts-based CyPhy Works, a developer of advanced UAVs, the other day announced the close of a $7 million financing round led by Lux Capital, with participation from General Catalyst Partners, Felicis Ventures, and several undisclosed angel investors. As part of the financing, Lux Capital Partner Bilal Zuberi will join the CyPhy Works board of directors. The company says it targets 24/7 “persistent” operations.

  • Venture capitalPyreos, ultra‐low power consumption IR sensor specialist, secures $4 million investment

    Edinburgh, Scotland-based Pyreos Limited, a specialist in ultra‐low power consumption infrared sensor technology, the other day announced plans for international expansion after securing a further funding round of $4 million. It is possible to use Pyreos sensor arrays in many applications, among them border security, where they can identify human movement at distances of several kilometers.

  • Venture capitalTrustev closes $3 million seed funding round

    According to research by eMarketer, global e-commerce sales are expected to reach nearly $1.3 trillion in 2013, making online fraud prevention an urgent and important requirement for every merchant. Trustev addresses this requirement by using multiple dynamic data sources to independently verify a user’s identity on e-commerce sites. The company has just closed a $3 million seed funding round to finance the further development of its e-commerce security and online fraud protection technology.

  • Venture capitalCyphort, a threat monitoring specialist, raises $15.5 million Series B funding

    San Jose, California-based Cyphort, Inc., a company specializing in advanced threat monitoring and mitigation platform, has closed in $15.5 million Series B funding. The round was led by Menlo Park, California-based Trinity Ventures with participation from existing investors Foundation Capital and Matrix Capital. Cyphort’s platform blends multi-phase behavioral analysis, machine learning, and correlation to provide businesses with real-time detection, context, and mitigation for advanced malware attacks that bypass traditional security and first generation APT solutions.