US investment fund Susquehanna International Group has led a $3 million Series A financing round in Israeli cyber security startup Cymulate. The company had previously raised $500,000 from Eyal Gruner, a director in the company.
Cymulate conducts penetration tests. The company has developed a platform enabling enterprises to simulate cyber attacks in real time, while testing the security system's resilience from the potential attacker's perspective. Among other things, Cymulate makes it possible to assess an enterprise's readiness for ransom and fishing attacks, and for detecting more complicated breaches through which hackers can take over an enterprise's computers and apps.
The $3 million raised will enable Cymulate to continue development of its automatic tool, hire 15 more employees in addition to the eight it already has, and establish a sales apparatus in the US.
The market for information and cyber security testing as part of cyber as a service in which Cymulate operates is estimated at $6 billion in the US and Europe alone. The new realization that it is no longer possible to rely on period testing in large-scale projects carried out by third-party companies is a business opportunity for Cymulate. The company's platform enables any enterprise to test whenever it wants how it stands against the current attack threats.
It is known that even innocent software updates are liable to expose an enterprise to an attack or damage from one or more threats to its business activity. Cymulate's automated systems can run penetration tests independently of services from external companies, without budget limitations. Following each routine maintenance activity of the network, its resilience and readiness for coping with various potential attacks can be tested. The accessibility provided by Cymulate is likely to greatly reduce enterprises' exposure to attacks, thereby dramatically decreasing the damage caused to them.
Cymulate's system continuously updates research teams and hackers investigating attacks in the operation system, software, apps, and a broad range of services. By using the service, the information security manager gets an up-to-date idea of the enterprise's state of resistance to cyber attacks. The system also provides suggestions for repairing existing breaches, so that in most cases, by implementing these recommendations, the information security manager blocks and neutralizes quite a few threats.
Cymulate was founded by CEO Eyal Wachsman and CTO Avihai Ben-Yossef, both of whom previously worked at Avnet Cyber & Information Security Consulting. Wachsman, 42, has 17 years of experience in information security in sales and business development positions. Ben-Yossef, 28, served in an IDF military technologies unit, and was cyber research manager at Avnet.
Wachsman said, "We knew we had a winning product, but we didn't imagine how much encouragement we'd receive only six months after deciding to bring it to market as an independent company. The investment from Susquehanna is a clear vote of confidence in Cymulate's future, and I'm glad we have found partners who are excited as we are about the business opportunity in this market. I have no doubt that with professional help from Susquehanna, we'll not only meet our targets, but do it ahead of schedule."
Published by Globes [online], Israel Business News - www.globes-online.com - on March 7, 2017
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