Arlington-based cybersecurity emulation company SCYTHE announced that it raised $10 million in Series A funding this week. Gula Tech Ventures and Paladin Capital Group led the round, with participation from Energy Impact Partners (EIP). As part of the investment, SCYTHE will also add a member of the EIP management team as a board observer.
As cyberattacks and the use of ransomware rises, cybersecurity solutions are something most companies are now investing in. But cybersecurity is an ever-changing game of cat-and-mouse. The ways hackers target companies are constantly evolving, which can make it hard to keep up with mounting risk. So SCYTHE has built a solution for cybersecurity teams to stay aware of these changing risks.
SCYTHE offers a platform where defensive (blue), offensive (red) and hybrid (purple) security teams can create cybersecurity emulations based on real-world threats, in order to help them prepare for or respond to cyberattacks. The solution is modular, making it easy to customize for company needs and validate the efficacy of these security tools, in order to justify company spending.
“Cybersecurity is broken because vulnerability management and risk mitigation lack context. Security teams work overtime trying to close every security gap possible, but threat actors never apply a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to attacks. They target industries and geographic regions differently, evolving their methodologies to evade detection,” SCYTHE CEO and founder Bryson Bort said in a company blog post. “Companies need to use situational awareness as the foundation of their risk mitigation strategies. Leadership teams need to know that their teams can test against the ‘next big thing’ facing their industry to validate security controls and tools.”
SCYTHE plans to use this new funding to grow its team. It’s specifically looking to hire for roles in engineering, sales, marketing and customer service, with eight open roles currently listed on its website.
SCYTHE isn’t the only cybersecurity company to receive funding recently. Operational tech cybersecurity startups Dragos and Shift5 brought in $200 million and $20 million respectively. Dragos’ funding also helped it reach unicorn status with a $1.7 billion valuation. If SCYTHE’s mythical creature-themed branding is any indication, it seems to be aiming for a unicorn valuation as well.
