Large enterprises need multiple cybersecurity teams to manage all they face. A company like JPMorgan Chase spends nearly $600M a year on cybersecurity, employing over 3K employees in cybersecurity role according to SecureWorld. With thousands of employees responding to various cyber threats, information tends to get segmented, resulting in decreased efficiency and a lack of communication. Cyware Labs bridges this gap with its integrated solution, Cyber Fusion, which allows organizations to ingest, analyze, and share relevant threat intelligence in a collaborative platform – almost like a Slack for Cybersecurity. Replacing a previously disparate workflow, security teams can now address all threats in a fully integrated, informed, and unified manner.
AlleyWatch spoke with CEO and Cofounder Anuj Goel to learn how Cyware is creating a new vertical in cybersecurity, the company’s future growth plans, and recent round of funding.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
Cyware Labs raised $3M in seed funding from a consortium of investors led by Emerald Development Managers and Great Road Holdings.
Tell us about the product or service that Cyware Labs offers.
Cyware offers solutions that empower organizations to develop proactive cyber fusion and defense capabilities, effectively exchange strategic, tactical, and operational threat intelligence, and quickly respond to and manage security threats in real-time. Our products are designed to promote secure collaboration, drive cyber resiliency, and enhance threat visibility.
Our integrated platform consists of three products to serve our clients: Cyware Situational Awareness Platform (CSAP), Cyware Threat Intelligence eXchange (CTIX), and Cyware Fusion and Threat Response (CFTR).
What inspired you to start Cyware Labs?
I have spent more than 18 years in cybersecurity. During my journey, I recognized that cybercriminals were singularly focused on attacking our corporate environments and able to dedicate 100% of their time to achieving their goal. I realized if we had any chance to combat these efforts we would need to work smarter and faster. We would have to collaborate better internally and externally, use automation to analyze the vast threat data available to us, and synchronize our resources to fight off security threats. It is this challenge and the basic pain point of all CISOs that inspired me and my cofounder and CTO, Akshat Jain, to start Cyware Labs.
How is Cyware Labs different?
Cyware is different in the sense that we have not reinvented the wheel. Instead, we have created the spokes that connect the entire perimeter of the wheel which is the essence and crux of Cyber Fusion. It is beyond proven now that Threat Intelligence and Collaboration are the two crucial pillars of the new age security paradigm. Until now, organizations merely had the means to ingest threat intelligence but no way to determine its relevancy. They lacked the means to analyze such intelligence and leverage it for responding to threats. Every organization had multiple security teams but no efficient platform to bring them all together, synchronize their energies, and work towards a common goal. We have changed that and created an integrated solution that allows organizations to not only ingest but analyze and share relevant threat intelligence, enhance collaboration between security teams and respond to all kinds of threats in an integrated and automated manner.
Who do you consider to be your main competitors?
We have taken an innovative Cyber Fusion based approach to solving the security pain points of organizations. Our Cyber Fusion solution is based on a holistic approach that integrates disparate security solutions involving strategic and tactical threat intelligence sharing, threat response, situational intelligence, orchestration, automation, and mobile alerting. To summarize, we have created a new industry vertical that undertakes a holistic approach to solve the security challenges faced by organizations.
What market does Cyware Labs target and how big is it?
Cyware Labs conducts business with mid and large enterprises across various industries along with multinational financial, retail, energy, health sectors, ISAC / ISAO, CERT, and government agencies. Cybersecurity encompasses a multibillion-dollar market of which the percent of Enterprise IT Security budget dedicated to detection and response has been increasing year over year.
What’s your business model?
Cyware solutions are offered via a software subscription model either in the cloud via SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) or via on-premise deployment.
What was the funding process like?
The funding process was a collaborative experience which situates Cyware for strategic growth. Gaining the trust and support of multiple investors has helped to further validate our expectations of filling a previously vacant spot in the security landscape.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
It was critical to align with investors who shared our vision and demonstrated a clear understanding of the market gaps Cyware was created to solve. More so than simply a financial transaction, I wanted to match Cyware to investors who would be engaged with our mission and take an active role in guiding us with their experience. You might call it luck, but I somehow landed at the right group of investors who understand the industry and are very supportive.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Our investors understood the vast challenges that CISOs deal with on a daily basis – overly complex and ineffective security environments, lack of collaboration across security teams, and the need for situational awareness at the senior management/board level.
Our investors understood the vast challenges that CISOs deal with on a daily basis – overly complex and ineffective security environments, lack of collaboration across security teams, and the need for situational awareness at the senior management/board level.
Organizations are not able to make the best out of their security investments as almost every organization has a complex web of security tools but can’t effectively leverage the Intel that is generated by these tools. Security is further hampered through the presence of multiple security teams in every organization who are unable to collaborate with each other.
To resolve this gap Cyware created an affordable, inhouse, no brick and mortar Cyber Fusion Center solution that solves all these challenges in an integrated manner. Cyware’s platform returns situational awareness at the senior management and board level where all strategic decisions are taken. Our investors saw how the team has been successfully providing solutions in this area and has consistently nurtured high-quality relationships. The financial commitment of Emerald Development Managers and Great Road Holdings is a testament to our team’s years of dedication.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Cyware Labs will deploy the secured capital to support research and product development, accelerate sales and marketing efforts and expand their global footprint by strengthening partnerships in Asia-Pacific and Gulf regions.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
My advice to companies who are seeking to raise capital would be to focus on the future. You should be focusing on the solutions that would solve both the tactical and strategic pain points of the market which you are catering to. The future is not distant, it will be here sooner than you expect. Once you recognize that, you will see visionaries investing in your company.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We are planning to accelerate our sales and marketing efforts and foster international expansion outside North America. You will also be seeing enhanced versions of our product lineup in the near future.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
I’ve recently been to Locanda Verde over on Greenwich St a few times. Their meals have a great marriage of flavors and their wine pairings are splendid. If you get a chance to go to their weekend brunch I think you will be very pleased.
