Boston startup CyberSaint has closed a $21 million Series A round, which it says will help it expand its global operations as demand for cyber risk-protection grows.
CyberSaint’s product is a cyber-risk platform, which customers with a dashboard that shows top areas of potential susceptibility to cyber attacks and an ability to compare their risks to competitors'.
At the time of its founding in 2016, CyberSaint was more focused on security compliance, but has increasingly been moving into the cyber-risk and cybersecurity space, the company said. Now, its goal is to provide customers with real-time cyber risk awareness, according to CyberSaint CEO Jerry Layden.
In 2022, CyberSaint Security Inc. completed a $6 million debt financing, according to a Form D filed by the Boston company. In 2018, CyberSaint raised $3 million.
Demand for this kind of information has risen, as cyber attacks have become more frequent, said Layden. Additionally, SEC regulations related to cyber risk have become more stringent.
“The environment has started to get extremely demanding for companies to understand what their risk is,” Layden said.
The reason for the increase in demand, and the uptick in frequency of attacks, is related to the geopolitical environment, Layden said. Cyber attacks have proven to be an effective way to disrupt a region. CyberSaint’s customers want to know where the risks are, Layden said.
“The need to understand where risk is so you can prevent cyber attacks has risen to a top priority,” he said.
The funding, led by Riverside Acceleration Capital, will be used broadly, Layden said. Beyond broadening the customer base by investing in sales and marketing staff, CyberSaint intends to build out its use of AI automation.
Layden said there are plans at the company to hire more staff, but that it will be a gradual process.
The company’s customer portfolio is in the couple-of-hundreds, according to Layden. Its largest 15 customers are all Fortune 200 companies, he said. The startup is focused on growing its customer base of Fortune 500 to 1000, he said.
The company currently has about 35 employees, Layden said, most of whom are local to the firm’s Boston headquarters in the Seaport. The firm moved from Burlington in 2019.
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