Cybersecurity startup Protexxa, a women- and minority-owned company, has raised $4 million in seed funding, the company announced in a prepared statement. In fact, Protexxa touts 70% of its investors are women.
Toronto, Canada-based Protexxa, which launched earlier in October, is "addressing the human element of cybersecurity by connecting the dots between personal cyber hygiene and business risk," the company said. Toward those outcomes, Protexxa operates a B2B software-as-a-service cybersecurity platform.
The platform applies artificial intelligence to rapidly identify, evaluate, predict and resolve cyber issues for employees, the company said. It is currently being piloted across several industries including government, academia and healthcare.
Seasoned Cyber Exec Launches Her Own Company
Protexxa’s CEO and founder Claudette McGowan, who previously served as global executive officer for Cybersecurity at TD Bank, explained the inspiration behind the new company:
“Since the pandemic, cybercrime has quadrupled and continues to accelerate. Our goal is to be part of the solution. Through Protexxa, we will democratize cybersecurity by making it more accessible for both businesses and individuals. The key is to connect the dots on how personal cyber hygiene can affect an organization. This means identifying blind spots and building out personalized training, assessment, and awareness plans to move cyber health in a positive direction.”
BKR, Angel Investors Capitalize Protexxa
BKR Capital, which makes transformational investments in disruptive companies and promising Black technology founders, led Protexxa’s seed funding round. The Firehood Angels and several angel investors, including Jeff Fettes, Annette Verschuren and Leen Li, also participated in the found round, the company said.
The funds will be used to build out the cybersecurity platform with assisted remediation technology, facilitate pilots with global customers and prepare to scale its operations. The company notes that it is currently in the process of filing several patents.
Protexxa focuses on addressing the human element of cybersecurity by connecting the dots between personal cyber hygiene and business risk.
