Israeli cloud-based cybersecurity platform for connected cars and autonomous vehicles Upstream Security today announced the closing of $9 million in Series A financing round led by CRV (Charles River Ventures). The round included expanded investments from Israeli-based Glilot Capital Partners and Maniv Mobility.
Following a $2 million seed funding round in June, the company will use the latest investment to expand its R&D program and continue hiring for its engineering and security research teams, while opening marketing and sales offices in the US and Europe. The company is well-resourced to secure the 60 million connected cars on the road today that include commercial trucks, vans, buses and private vehicles, as well as take advantage of the imminent explosion in connected vehicles - Gartner anticipates thatthere will be 250 million connected vehicles by 2020.
Founded earlier this year by CEO Yoav Levy and CTO Yonatan Appel, both cyber security veterans, the company is based in Herzliya.
Levy said, “The automotive industry is going through a massive disruption. Consequently, security solutions for the car are undergoing rapid advances at an unprecedented rate. We’re using emerging technologies like AI and machine learning to carry out an evolutionary leap in cybersecurity for passenger and commercial vehicles. Riding the wave of momentum from our recent company launch and early customer wins, this new investment round further validates our technology and approach, and will fuel our commitment to be the leading force of innovation in security for connected and autonomous transportation.”
“Connected and semi-autonomous cars are already a reality, so it’s a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’ these self-driving technologies will be deployed at scale. Upstream’s engineers were the first to solve how to protect connected cars and autonomous vehicles using the cloud, crucial for near-term and future deployment of automotive cybersecurity at the fleet level,” said Izhar Armony, general partner at CRV.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 13, 2017
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