Cybersecurity software producer Symantec has agreed to acquire Israel-based mobile threat detection platform Skycure for an amount reported by Globes to be $250m, allowing insurance firm New York Life to exit.
Skycure has created an artificial intelligence and machine learning-equipped software platform that combines crowdsourced threat intelligence with device and server-based analysis to predict and combat cyber threats to mobile devices.
The technology will be incorporated into Symantec’s enterprise and consumer mobility products post-acquisition, giving added protection to what it described in a statement as an increasingly mobile-first customer base.
Greg Clark, chief executive of Symantec, said: “Mobile is a core component of our strategy and the acquisition of Skycure is a major step forward in executing it.
“Together, we will offer the cloud generation an integrated mobile cyber defence architecture that will protect customers’ mobile devices and networks across iOS, Android and Windows.”
Skycure had raised $27.5m in funding, including $16.5m in a July 2016 series B round led by venture capital firm Foundation Capital and backed by New York Life, Shasta Ventures, Pitango Venture Capital and individual investors Peter McKay, Michael Weider and Lane Bess.
New York Life had also participated in the company’s $8m series A round in early 2015 alongside Shasta Ventures, which led the round, and Pitango Venture Capital.