US-based cybersecurity technology developer Claroty emerged from stealth on Tuesday with $32m in capital provided by investors including diversified conglomerate Mitsui.
The company’s other backers include Bessemer Venture Partners, Innovation Endeavors, Marker, ICV Capital Partners and Red Dot Capital Partners.
Claroty has developed a platform to protect critical industrial infrastructure. The technology uses advanced algorithms to monitor industrial control systems communications, providing security and processing integrity warnings.
The startup is the second company to be incubated by cybersecurity-focused foundry Team8, following Illusive Networks, which closed a $22m series B round in October 2015 backed by investors including financial services group Citic’s investment arm Citic Ventures.
Team8’s shareholders include Mitsui, telecoms firm AT&T, professional services firm Accenture, communications technology producer Nokia, telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent, networking technology developer Cisco’s Cisco Investments unit, Marker, Bessemer and Innovation Endeavors.
Amir Zilberstein, chief executive of Claroty, said: “The reason these critical systems are increasingly exposed to cyber threats is twofold.
“Industrial and IT networks are becoming considerably more interconnected in order to achieve important business goals, but industrial control systems were originally designed with safety and resilience, not cybersecurity, as primary objectives.”