This is Horangi’s third win of the month, after Tokio Marine-partnership and Jim Rouse VP announcement
Cybersecurity company Horangi announced on March 24 that it closed its Series B round at US$20 million. The round was led by Southeast Asian private equity firm Provident Growth, a statement from the company said. The funding brings Horangi’s total haul to $23.1 million.
Other participants in the round include Monk’s Hill Ventures, Right Click Capital, and Genesis Alternative Ventures. The Series B has come in two years after Horangi raised $3.1 million in a Series A led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Monk’s Hill Ventures in 2017.
“We’re honored and excited at the next stage of our company. It’s unclear whether we are in a recession or depression, and in these times we see a spike in cyber crime due to economic shifts. The work that we do is even more crucial and we look forward to helping companies innovate without fear in these turbulent times,” Horangi Co-Founder and CEO Paul Hadjy told Jumpstart via email, discussing a possible jump in cybercrime as COVID-19 forces more offices back into work-from-home policies.
Horangi shared that the funds will be directed toward expanding the company’s footprint in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. It said that demand for its cybersecurity products is highest in Indonesia and Singapore, and it will be working on growing its presence there. The company also said that it is looking to double its staff.
In terms of product development, the company said in its statement that the funds will be used to develop Horangi Warden, the startup’s cloud offering that protects clients from cloud security breaches and hacks. The statement emphasized the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning tech to enhance Warden as well.
“A majority of breaches happen through fairly simple means, typically simple mistakes made by employees,” Hadjy added via email. “Having said that, attackers are taking advantage of new technology to find new means of attacking, for example [in] the case of AI used to mimic a CEO’s voice from a UK Energy firm to defraud the company. Cybersecurity tech will need to follow suit with the same technology in order to combat and find innovative ways to protect organizations.”
The Series B funding comes about 10 days after Horangi announced that Jim Rouse would be taking over the role of Vice President-Cyber Operations. Rouse is the former Chief Information Security Officer at Gemini, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. He has also held roles with Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In another development earlier this month, Tokio Marine Insurance Singapore (TMIS) joined Horangi’s list of partners to provide cybersecurity services to its clients, in TMIS’ first such partnership in the Asia Pacific region.
Image courtesy of Horangi.
