Secfense, a Polish-American cybersecurity company, has raised $2 million in an investment round from Tera VC, Presto Ventures and RKKVC. Secfense’s mission is to eliminate password theft attacks and help companies move to a secure future without them. The company accomplishes this by implementing strong authentication throughout the organization and protecting systems and applications without tampering with their source code. The money will be used to build its position in overseas markets, primarily the UK and US.
Money disappearing from bank accounts, data encrypted by attackers or email leaks are the new reality we live in. Many of these types of attacks can already be completely eliminated today. That is why investors have noticed potential in User Access Security Broker technology developed by Secfense specialists from Krakow.
There were three times more companies ready to invest in the technology in this round than Secfense founders expected. Ultimately, those who were able to bring the greatest non-financial value to the company were selected.
The international consortium that invested in Secfense consisted of business angels, including Mark Schuster (sales director at UiPath), Bartosz Dobrzyński (former board member of P4 – the owner of Play mobile network operator) and Elżbieta Kozera, who plays a large role in the development of Polish companies in the United States.
– There are plenty of multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions on the market, but so far no one has come up with a good way to quickly and easily implement them in many applications and systems, says Tomasz Kowalski, CEO and co-founder of Secfense. – We did it. Investors have noted that Secfense’s broker is a technology that solves some of the biggest cybersecurity problems for large organizations. It spreads an invisible layer of protection over the entire organization and implements MFA authentication across all systems and applications. MFA is deployed with zero integration costs, no burden on end users, and in a fast and automated way. It helps connect and systematize what companies are already using so that MFA covers the entire organization, not just part of it, Kowalski adds.
For Secfense, the priority was to find investors who could offer not only capital, but above all knowledge, contacts and support in the strategy for entering new markets.
– One of the biggest challenges facing the world today is securing our identity online, says StanislavIvanov, founding partner at TeraVentures. – That is why we were so keen to have Secfense in our portfolio. The company makes it possible to implement strong authentication in an automated way. Until now, organizations had to selectively protect applications because it was very difficult or even impossible to implement new technology. With Secfense, implementing multi-factor authentication is no longer a problem, and all organizations can benefit from the highest security standards.
Mateusz Bodio, Managing Director at RKKVC
Mateusz Bodio, Managing Director at RKKVC, said: – Before investing in Secfense, we had the opportunity to talk to its existing customers. Their reactions were unanimous: it’s so easy to use! We were particularly impressed by the fact that implementing Secfense does not require the involvement of IT programmers. This gives us a huge advantage over our competitors, and at the same time opens the door to potential customers who have so far been afraid of the changes involved in implementing multi-factor authentication solutions.
– Our main goal is to achieve abroad what we have achieved in Poland in recent years – adds Tomasz Kowalski. – We also plan to hire new specialists – in terms of technology we are looking for programmers and security experts, in terms of market expansion we are looking for business development managers and sales people. We count on the support of our investors and mentors, who have extensive experience in both Europe and the US.
The Secfense User Access Security Broker solution is currently the fastest and easiest way to implement and scale passwordless authentication. It is also a tool that helps you implement a zero-trust security model that keeps people, devices and applications secure regardless of location.
– Even if your network and infrastructure are sufficiently secured, social engineering and stolen passwords can be used to take control by attackers. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a current trend. Secfense solves the problem of difficult MFA implementation and makes it possible to build security policies in an organization based on a zero-trust model and without using passwords,” says EduardKučera, partner at Presto Ventures
The
value that the User Access Security Broker brings to an organization has been recognized by cyber security experts at BNP Paribas Poland. Secfense’s clients also include Findia Group companies that specialize in insurance and services in the areas of technology, cybersecurity and legal protection, PKP Intercity, one of the largest transport companies in Poland, and an organization responsible for the digitalization of the government sector in Poland.
Secfense was founded in 2018 by two experts, Marcin Szary and Tomasz Kowalski, who have been focusing on the area of cybersecurity for over twenty years, with a focus on identity management. The product is developed by a dynamic team and supported by investors and mentors in emerging technologies.
