Israel-based cybersecurity foundry Team8 has raised $85m in funding from a range of investors, including several corporate partners, that will be channelled toward building new companies.
Retail group Walmart, aerospace manufacturer Airbus, telecommunications group Softbank, ratings agency Moody’s, IT services provider Dimension Data, communications technology provider Nokia, reinsurer Munich Re and financial services firms Scotiabank and Barclays are all among the contributors.
M12 and Cisco Investments, respective subsidiaries of software provider Microsoft and networking equipment producer Cisco, have also chipped in capital, as have Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek and venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners and Innovation Endeavors.
Team8 operates as a cybersecurity think tank and company launching platform. It has so far launched four startups, including Sygnia, the cybersecurity technology and incident response service provider acquired for $250m by Tencent last week. It has another four currently in stealth.
The company said it has now received $260m in total, including an undisclosed sum from M12, financial services firm Citi and Qualcomm Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mobile semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm, in February 2017.
Team8 originally raised $18m in a series A round that took place at the time of its 2015 launch, from Cisco Investments, telecoms equipment provider Alcatel-Lucent, Bessemer, Innovation Endeavors and investment firm Marker.
Nokia, telecoms company AT&T, diversified conglomerate Mitsui and professional services provider Accenture subsequently joined Temasek, Marker, Bessemer and Quantum Strategic Partners to provide $23m in series B funding for the company in early 2016.
Nadav Zafrir, chief executive of Team8, said: “The commitment from our new partners illustrates the significance of our work to galvanise digital transformation across all industries.
“The synergy and insight from leaders in retail, aerospace, insurance, financial services and technology combined with our unrivalled cyber and data expertise at Team8 will enable companies to adopt new data-driven methods of working, ensuring they can retain their competitive advantage and thrive, in spite of cyber threats.”
