An Ohio State University cybersecurity spinoff has raised at least $6.3 million, according to a regulatory filing.
Anchor started raising the money in June for a round with 76 investors so far, according to the Form D filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week.
Co-founder and CEO Emre Koksal said he couldn't comment. That is typical while rounds remain open to avoid appearance of public solicitation.
Anchor, the DBA of DAtAnchor Inc., launched four years ago with subscription software that helps companies protect their data from breaches caused by human error.
The encryption software embeds in the data itself, so the files are protected against any unauthorized movement – whether by an intruder or someone within the company. That's in contrast to perimeter security setups such as two-factor authentication to gain access to data, which don't prevent users from simply saving to a thumb drive.
The New Albany-based company won two gold honors in the 2023 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards this spring, according to a news release. Both awards, best cybersecurity startup and best data security platform, covered companies with 10 to 49 employees across North America.
In 2019 Anchor raised a $1.25 million seed round, with investors including Columbus-based Ohio Innovation Fund. That same year Columbus Business First named Koksal Inventor of the Year in the BizTech Awards.
Koksal remains a full-time OSU professor of electrical and computer engineering. He has said he devotes evenings and weekends to the startup.
