Exein announces €6 million Series A funding round to help developers build safer IoT devices
eCAPITAL NEWSThe investment is co-led by eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS, a German independent VC firm focusing on early-stage DeepTech investments and Future Industry Ventures, an investment fund dedicated to the future of manufacturing and advised by VC experts Redstone. The round also saw participation from existing investor United Ventures, the Italian venture capital firm specializing in investments in digital technologies.
Rising along with the number of embedded devices – think routers, phones, cars, home automation, and industrial devices – is the vulnerability to security loopholes and cyberattacks. According to Gartner, by 2022, 70% of organizations that don’t have a firmware upgrade in place will be breached due to a firmware vulnerability. In this context, Exein has developed an open-source set of tools for self-protection and remote monitoring that is designed to help embedded systems recognize and ward off undesirable behavior.
This is a new approach especially suited to the 30.9 billion IoT devices predicted to be in operation by 2025: rather than relying on external measures to keep this tech secure, Exein focuses instead on intrinsic, embedded security that acts as an immune system working from within the device. Easy to integrate, the Exein solution offers a seamless implementation experience for developers in charge of firmware, thus greatly widening access to security.
The fresh round of funding is expected to fuel the company’s planned architectural product expansion that will bring Exein capabilities also to other markets such as Industrial IoT, Automotive and Medical IoT as well as the accompanying upcoming tech hirings, which are expected to increase to cope with growing traction.
IoT and embedded vulnerabilities are on the rise. We believe that in order to truly secure IoT and embedded systems, developers must be empowered with the right tools for effective security by design. We are on a mission to build the world’s first ecosystem for security, and we are delighted to onboard our new investor FIV, a fund with whom we share the belief in the key role of data protection and cybersecurity in industry 4.0 as well as eCAPITAL, an experienced DeepTech investor from Germany with an extensive international network and expertise in cyber security investments.
Gianni Cuozzo, Founder and CEO, Exein
Exein has an outstanding team and we are impressed by their elegant solution of securing virtually any IoT device. There have already been some impressive use cases across a variety of industries, proving the wide applicability of Exein’s approach. That in turn speaks to the company’s massive potential to pave the way for secure IoT. Our fund, Future Industry Ventures, stands for the future of manufacturing, which means on the one hand higher connectivity and IoT, but also, crucially, cybersecurity for embedded systems. Security is indispensable, and this is exactly the kind of innovation that we believe will make industrial manufacturing safer, more transparent, attack-proof, better for everybody.
Philipp von Hagen, Managing Partner, Future Industry Ventures
While traditional approaches to securing embedded and IoT devices aim to reduce programming errors in the firmware, Exein’s solution detects malicious behavior during the operation of the devices. With this new approach, Exein has seen tremendous growth recently and attracts enormous interest in the developer community. Exein fits perfectly into our portfolio of cybersecurity startups supported by eCAPITAL’s dedicated cybersecurity fund.”
Dirk Seewald, Partner, eCAPITAL
About Exein
Exein is the first Open Source framework for IoT security. Designed with a strong focus on developer-first security, Exein looks to tackle the huge threat posed by embedded devices and the vulnerabilities carried within their firmware by providing developers with simple and effective tools for identifying, blocking and resolving potential anomalies in their IoT devices. Founded in 2018, today Exein is working with key global partners in the critical infrastructure, automotive and network infrastructure industries and its embedded technology is actively protecting more than 600’000 devices IoT every day.
About eCAPITAL
eCAPITAL is a venture capital firm that provides early to growth stage funding to technology companies in the fields of software & information technology, cybersecurity, industry 4.0, new materials and cleantech. Founded in 1999, eCAPITAL has a history of supporting entrepreneurs determined to build companies with lasting significance. Partnering with eCAPITAL means joining an international network of business leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists and potential partners. eCAPITAL is located in Germany, currently manages funds with over EUR 280 million under management and was lead investor of some very successful German exits like sonnen, Novaled or Jedox.
About Future Industry Ventures
As the only platform worldwide within the Industry 4.0 area, FIV invests in European scale-up technologies in order to raise their potential to an international level and builds globe companies from the EU ecosystem. The focus is on best-in-class innovations that have the capability to drive the future of this industry through digitalization technologies. The fund’s aim is to promote scale-ups from the early growth stage onwards and to build strong partner networks between Europe and Asia.
About United Ventures
United Ventures SGR SpA is an independent Venture Capital firm supporting visionary entrepreneurs to reinvent industries through technology, from early to growth stage. Founded in 2013 by Massimiliano Magrini and Paolo Gesess, United Ventures manages over €300 million raised from Italian and international institutional investors and has invested in over 25 technology companies. The current portfolio includes Entando, Young Platform, Deliveristo, BOOM, InSilicoTrials, Fiscozen, xFarm, MishiPay, Equalum, Credimi, Exein, brumbrum, MainStreaming, FaceIT, Musixmatch, Datrix, Cloud4Wi, and Moneyfarm.
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Redstone Digital GmbH
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United Ventures
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E-mail: gmargstahler@unitedventures.it