MMC leads $8.8m Series A funding round for cybersecurity business, Red Sift

We’re proud to have led the $8.8m investment round for Red Sift, the cognitive data platform that provides cloud-based email security solutions. New investor In-Q-Tel also invested alongside existing investors, White Star Capital and Oxford Capital.

Founded in 2015 by Rahul Powar and Randal Pinto, Red Sift is a data-driven cybersecurity business that uses machine learning to analyse and synthesise data from core business processes, such as email, to help its global customer base better manage its online security.

In the past 18 months employee numbers have doubled and Red Sift has brought on a number of external strategic advisors including Kevin Fielder, CISO at Just Eat and Hugh McCartney, former CEO of Cloudmark, to help bolster the leadership team and fast-track business growth. In the same period, Red Sift has enjoyed considerable success with its OnDMARC security product, growing the customer base over 800 percent, including brands such as Telefonica, ITV, Action for Children, and Sadler’s Wells.

Its latest product – OnINBOX – is testament to Red Sift’s continued commitment to making cybersecurity technology more cost-effective and easier to use. Its intelligent email threat detection shores up email inbox defences by helping people better understand whether the emails they receive are legitimate and trustworthy.

Mina Samaan, Investment Manager at MMC had this to say about the investment:

There is no hiding in the fact that the use of email as an initial attack vector continues to dominate the way in which hackers are able to begin cyber-attacks. Red Sift’s easy-to-implement product suite offers businesses of all sizes the ability to protect against advanced email threats while also flagging to employees the potential threats from emails they receive.

MINA SAMAANINVESTMENT MANAGER, MMC

We’ve been tracking the team at Red Sift from the very early stages of the business and we’ve been consistently impressed with their ability to execute and achieve their goals. We look forward to working with Rahul, Randal and the rest of the team as they enter the next phase of growth.

MINA SAMAANINVESTMENT MANAGER, MMC

Co-founder and CEO of Red Sift, Rahul Powar, said:

We live in a world where users are told to simply accept that email has a fundamental security flaw and organisations transfer the onus of detection onto their busy employees. Meanwhile, it’s getting more difficult to identify these rogue messages as the targeting and sophistication of the attacks mature. This is exactly why Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a growing threat for all types of organisations.

RAHUL POWARCEO & CO-FOUNDER, RED SIFT

The bruising reality for businesses is that it is around 400 times more expensive to defend against an attack than it is to launch one, meaning the economics of cybersecurity have to date, always favoured the largest businesses with the deepest pockets. It’s through our serverless data platform, Red Sift, that we are able to offer intelligent and accessible SaaS solutions that combine modern security standards with the latest machine learning techniques to make it easier for organisations to reduce the threats their users face every day.

RAHUL POWARCEO & CO-FOUNDER, RED SIFT

This funding round will help us to continue developing transformational cybersecurity solutions essential for everyday cybersecurity for all types of organisations. We’re thankful to our new investors for their specialised insights and support in helping us to realise our vision as we continue to grow our strong EMEA customer base and expand into the US.

RAHUL POWARCEO & CO-FOUNDER, RED SIFT