Israel-based SAM Seamless Network raised a $20 million Series B as the cybersecurity company readies itself for the perfect storm of an expanding network attack surface and the coming of 5G.
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The new round was led by BlackBerry and Verizon Ventures1. Also participating in the round were Blumberg Capital, Intel Capital, ADT and NightDragon. Founded in 2016, the company has raised a total of $34 million to date.
SAM specializes in network and IoT device security for both consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. That market has grown quickly, especially in the last year as more people were forced to work from home due to the pandemic and bad actors have tried to take advantage by launching more attacks on growing, unsecured networks, said CEO Sivan Rauscher.
The company plans on using the new money to continue to grow the company’s mobile edge computing business, leveraging its technology to work with 5G networks to operate closer to end devices.
“Security needs to follow where the technology is evolving to,” Rauscher said.
A growing market
The company does not release revenue or sales figures, but Rauscher said the company saw “tremendous growth” last year. The 60-person company expects to grow from currently securing 2 million networks and 70 million devices globally to securing 10 million networks and 500 million devices by the end of 2021.
That growth is despite the fact that large companies play in both the consumer and SMB network security space. Akamai Technologies and Cisco Umbrella offer network security in the SMB space, and the consumer space has a variety of antivirus companies like McAfee, Rauscher said. However, SAM’s ability to work on different hardware and even in the cloud help make it attractive to both markets, she added.
Tammy Mahn, managing director of Verizon Ventures, called her firm’s investment in SAM an obvious choice, especially as mobile edge computing and 5G pick up momentum.
“As a network provider, we have a vested interest in a company that puts network security at the top of mind,” said Mahn, calling the investment strategic.
While much of SAM’s future still needs to be written, Mahn added it has the market to grow as an independent, even in a space like cybersecurity which is known for consolidation.
“I can see it as a standalone company,” she said. “This is a huge and underserved market. Consumers and SMBs expect the network to be safe.”
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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