IoT Security Firm Red Balloon Raises $22 Million
5.4.2018 securityweek IoT

Red Balloon Security, a provider of embedded device security solutions, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $21.9 million through a Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.

This latest round of funding brings the company’s total funding to $23.5 million.

The company’s flagship Symbiote Defense technology helps customers to detect and defend against emerging threats targeting embedded devices. The technology behind Symbiote was originally developed within Columbia University’s Intrusion Detection Systems Lab, with support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T).

Symbiote, Red Balloon explains, “defends devices without requiring changes to source code or hardware design, all without impacting the functionality or performance of the device,” adding that the solution has “demonstrated the ability to defend against both n-day and zero-day attacks on embedded devices, even if the attacker has succeeded in bypassing traditional cybersecurity measures.”

Red Balloon claims that Symbiote technology has operated for more than 15 billion continuous hours without a single failure, protecting millions of endpoints around the world.

“Symbiote Defense is a critically important technology for today’s businesses because it is able to prevent malware and other cyber attacks from hijacking, disrupting or corrupting any embedded device,” said Ang Cui, PhD, founder and CEO of Red Balloon Security. “This technology has considerable commercial potential because it is highly effective within any type of embedded device environment, from consumer electronics to factories, connected cars and even power plants. Thanks to the strong support of our investors, we will now be able to make this advanced technology more widely available to commercial users across all major industries.”

Greycroft, American Family Ventures and Abstract Ventures also participated in the funding round.