In the second major big-data analytics deal in Boston in two days, Cambridge startup Sqrrl has raised $7 million in Series B funding. The deal comes a day after Cambridge analytics technology startup RapidMiner announced raising a Series B of its own, at $15 million.
Though they’re part of the same general space within high-tech, the focuses of the two companies differ significantly. Sqrrl, with roots in the NSA, offers software that aims to analyze big data for the purpose of detecting and responding to sophisticated cyber threats. The startup “unifies an organization’s security, network, endpoint, and user data into a single platform,” according to a news release announcing the funding.
“In doing so, security analysts can specify what's important to them and visually navigate the relationships between assets and actors involved in a given event," Sqrrl said.
The end goal, of course, is to prevent the next Sony- or Anthem-scale cybersecurity breach. In connection with the new funding, Sqrrl said it has launched a new version of its software, Sqrrl Enterprise 2.0. The company is targeting customer segments including Fortune 500 companies and large government agencies.
RapidMiner, on the other hand, is offering software used by companies to turn their big data into predictions about their businesses—such as about marketing response rates and customer churn.
For Sqrrl’s Series B funding, the round was led by Rally Ventures and also included existing investors Atlas Venture and Matrix Partners. “Sqrrl is at the intersection of two of the most important trends facing the enterprise: cybersecurity and Big Data,” Zenas Hutcheson of Rally Ventures said in the news release.
Chris Lynch, partner at FKA (the firm formerly known as Atlas Venture), was part of bringing Sqrrl to Cambridge from the DC area, where it was launched by NSA vets. Sqrrl’s initial technology was developed within the NSA.
Sqrrl has now raised $14.3 million in funding to date.
