Nozomi Networks raises $15 million for expansion of its industrial cybersecurity offerings

Since being founded in 2013, the company has built products focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence that secure companies operating and maintaining critical infrastructure.

Industrial cybersecurity firm Nozomi Networks announced a $15 million Series B funding round Wednesday, positioning itself to be a bigger player in the growing field of companies focused on protecting industrial control systems (ICS).

The Invenergy Future Fund led the round, with participation from THI Investments and all existing investors: GGV Capital, Lux Capital and Planven Investments SA.

The latest round brings Nozomi Networks’ total funding to date to $23.8 million.

Since being founded in 2013, the company has built products focused on machine learning and artificial intelligence that secure companies operating and maintaining critical infrastructure.

The San Francisco-based company’s two products, SCADAGuardian and Central Management Console, provide users with a wide array of security options that can be deployed across multiple levels of ICS infrastructure, including supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.

Nozomi claims it has more than 200 customers across five continents, including companies that deal with energy, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and mining.

The funding comes as industrial cybersecurity is among the top worries for cybersecurity experts. In recent months, there has been a significant uptick in cyber events at various industrial and critical infrastructure sites.

Additionally, there has been considerable amount of venture funding that has come into industrial cybersecurity startups in the past year. In April 2017, Houston-based PAS, Inc. raised $40 million in private capital for its own expansion. In August, Fulton, Maryland-based Dragos Inc. raised $10 million in a Series A funding round.

Nozomi says it will use the funding to boost “worldwide expansion of marketing, sales and support and further bolster product innovation.”

“Now is a prudent time for funding to meet this exploding market opportunity,” said Nozomi Networks CEO Edgard Capdevielle in a release. “We resisted the temptation of raising too much funding before our product leadership was established…With additional resources, Nozomi Networks will convert our early market lead into a major force, securing critical infrastructure around the globe.”

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• Jail time for Maine child in 764 marks turning point in federal law enforcement

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure