Worldr is on a mission to build privacy, security and compliance layers for popular collaboration and communication tools. The London-based startup has just secured €11 million to meet the growing demand for its zero-trust architecture as the need for data sovereignty ramps up.
With our world becoming increasingly digital, cyber security has become a core concern for businesses of all sizes, right around the world. As a result of increasing cyberattacks, organizations are looking for more data sovereignty in order to be better protected.
It’s reported that companies experienced 31% more attacks in 2021 compared to the previous year, have heightened data localisation requirements amid global sanctions, and have an increased focus on compliance and auditing from financial regulators worldwide. Within this context, there is a growing appetite for zero-trust architecture – an appetite that Worldr aims to feed.
Now, the London-based startup has reached a total of €11 million in seed funding:
- The new funding round was led by Molten Ventures
- IQ Capital and Playfair Capital have provided continued support
- Specialist funds Pretiosum Ventures, Navigate VC and national security-focused MD One Ventures have also participated
- Industry specialist angels joined the round too including Alex Walsh (Senior MD, Blackstone), Hussain Baig (ex, Global COO & CIO, HSBC) and John Theroux (ex-Vice Chairman, Bain & Co)
The new capital will enable Worldr to meet the growing demand for its zero-trust architecture, which empowers organizations to retain data sovereignty over information shared on communication and collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Outlook and Slack.
Max Buchan, CEO at Worldr, comments “Data sovereignty has never been more important. The increase in cyberattacks, data localisation requirements, and scrutiny from regulators mean that it is no longer enough to blindly trust that collaboration platforms are keeping business communications secure and compliant. Companies rightfully want control of their data to protect themselves against operational, reputational and regulatory risk. This has not only fuelled demand for our zero trust architecture for Microsoft Teams, but we are also being challenged to apply this solution across an organization’s entire software environment. This funding will be critical to helping us further this mission and scale to meet the demand.”
Making communication tools secure
Worldr’s architecture offers enterprise-level security and compliance by storing all communications and files within the customer’s own environment. Bypassing a third-party provider’s own servers allows organizations to retain full ownership of their enterprise data, so employees can continue using the platforms they love without the added risk to their data.
It means that popular tools, such as WhatsApp and Slack, can be used with peace of mind.
To this end, the startup recently launched Worldr for WhatsApp, reflecting a growing trend of organizations using the messaging service amidst a need to overcome the compliance and auditing issues introduced by the use of WhatsApp in regulated industries.
Financial regulators in the US and UK are clamping down on the use of private messaging applications, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issuing a total of $1.8 billion in fines across 16 US banking institutions. Worldr for WhatsApp enables employees to continue using the messaging app to communicate with customers, teams and stakeholders, while meeting SEC, GDPR and FINRA compliance standards, by retaining messages in a secure storage facility for compliance searches and auditing. It also requires no additional application or download for the end user.
To meet the growing market demand for its zero trust architecture, Worldr will expand its presence in the US with a dedicated office in New York City. This will support the company’s ongoing relationship with Microsoft, as part of the Independent Partner Network. It is also expanding its operations into the Middle East and has started building a dedicated team based in Dubai.
Leonora Ross-Skinner, investor at Molten Ventures said: “The move towards zero trust and data sovereignty is becoming critical for any entity that deals with sensitive information. Worldr’s unique product set optimizes for privacy, security and data protection with seamless integration into existing enterprise software. Crucially, with Worldr, data is controlled by the enterprise itself, marking an incredibly important step forward in data sovereignty.”
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
November 7, 2022 at 05:12AM by contact@bcurdy.com (Patricia Allen), Khareem Sudlow
