Sequretek Secures $8 Mn Funding To Fuel Expansion In The US And Indian Markets

Global cybersecurity solutions provider Sequretek has secured $8 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India, with participation from the Narottam Sekhsaria Family Office and Alteria Capital. The company has raised $5.5 Mn as equity and remaining as debt funding.

Sequretek, founded in 2013 by Pankit Desai and Anand Naik, specialises in safeguarding businesses against cyber breaches. The startup utilises machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and thwart threat actors attempting to breach customer systems from various entry points.

The funds will be used to expand global operations and enhance go-to-market strategies. Additionally, they will be employed to drive greater adoption of cybersecurity solutions for businesses in India and other global markets, increase market share, and improve profitability in the small and medium business segment.

In a recent interaction with Inc42, Desai said that the funds will also be allocated towards building infrastructure. Desai explained that they currently operate a substantial data centre serving over 150 customers and need to expand it due to processing approximately 4 Bn events on their platform.

He added, “Every day, around two terabytes of data flow into our platform. Supporting this massive volume of data is a critical aspect of our infrastructure, especially as we scale.”

The cyber security startup works with various government organisations, startups, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) companies, and mid-size firms in sectors such as media, pharmaceuticals, automotive, and manufacturing.

Over the past four years, it has expanded its presence beyond India to capture the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and African markets. Headquartered in New Jersey, Sequretek has offices in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.

“India remains our primary market, representing 70% to 80% of our business. However, by 2026, we aim for a 50:50 split while deepening our presence in both the Indian and US markets,” Desai said.

Sequretek: Growth So Far

Until 2017, Sequretek operated exclusively in the Indian market with two products: Avatar and Kawach, which were customised and sold to enterprises. In 2017, it raised a Series A funding round led by Unicorn India Ventures.

Following this influx of capital, Sequretek embarked on an overhaul of its product line. As Desai pointed out, building a product and handing it over to a customer or service provider had become excessively complex and often a frustrating experience. Managing the multitude of technologies had become tedious and mostly insufficiently handled, making it a nightmare for customers.

“We realised that the fundamental change we needed to make was not only to create an easy-to-use and manage product but also to provide the necessary underlying infrastructure and the people required to operate it,” he explained.

Consequently, the team introduced a unified, end-to-end platform in 2019, the AI-powered Percept Cloud Security Platform (CSP), designed to meet the diverse needs of clients across various industries. The Percept CSP encompasses products like Percept Extended Detection & Response (XDR), Percept Identity Administration & Governance (IGA), Percept Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR), and Managed Security Services (MSS).

Shilpa Kumar, a Partner at Omidyar Network India, emphasised that in today’s hyper-connected digital landscape, cyber-attacks present a substantial threat to end-users. She added, “Sequretek’s digital plus working model has also demonstrated the business viability of serving the burgeoning Indian SMB sector, which often lacks dedicated information security resources.”

Currently employing over 450 individuals and serving more than 150 customers, the company has achieved a consistent annual growth rate of 35% to 40% during the last four years. It competes with companies such as F-Secure Corporation, Fortinet, Flowmon Network, and SentinelOne, among others.

Target Segments And Road Ahead

According to a report by Fortune Business Insights, the global cybersecurity market is projected to reach $424.9 Bn by 2030, with a CAGR of 13.8% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2030.

Simultaneously, the India Cybersecurity Market is estimated to be $3.97 Bn in 2023, and it is expected to grow to $9.21 Bn by 2028, at a CAGR of 18.33% during the forecast period (2023-2028), a Mordor Intelligence report suggests. This growth is driven by increased digitisation and technology adoption in the post-Covid era.

In 2022, India witnessed 13.91 lakh cybersecurity incidents, as per CERT-In. According to Desai, their sweet spot lies in customers who are in a regulated industry and thus require robust security but lack the resources and bandwidth to manage security on their own. Alternatively, they target customers who prioritize security.

Today, SMBs, one of the largest unaddressed sectors for cybersecurity solutions, constitute three-fourth of the company’s client base. This includes businesses in BFSI, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, media, manufacturing, retail, and logistics sectors across Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 cities.

Over the past few years, Sequretek has developed an in-depth understanding of the SMB segment and successfully identified the right channels to reach them — a feat many global companies struggle with. This has driven the company’s growth, contributing to a remarkable CAGR of 50% over the past five years.

Sequretek is currently preparing to launch a new offering as the customer management is becoming a huge challenge for enterprises as customers move to cloud.

Additionally, Sequretek has won two contests with the Government of India as part of the Make In India defence programme, allowing them to extend some of their products to the defence sector and replace certain industrial products required by the sector.

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