British Telecom Leads $33 Mn Investment In Indian Cyber Security Startup

BT Group, one of UK’s largest telecommunications and network providers, on Wednesday (July 21) announced a multi-million investment in Safe Security, a cyber risk management firm. Safe Security has raised $33 Mn in a fresh round of funding led by the BT group. All existing investors including John Chambers have participated in the round. 

Safe Security is headquartered in Silicon Valley and its SAFE platform allows organisations to take a health check of their existing defences and understand their likelihood of suffering a major cyber attack.

SAFE calculates a  financial cost to customers’ risks and provides actionable insight on the steps that can be taken to address them. The platform is said to protect multiple Fortune 500 companies and governments around the world. 

As a part of the deal, BT will combine the SAFE platform with its managed security services to offer customers a real-time view of how safe the customers are. BT will also be granted exclusive rights to use and sell SAFE to businesses and public sector bodies in the UK, and will incorporate the platform within its wider global portfolio. BT will also work collaboratively with Safe Security to develop future products.  

Philip Jansen, chief executive of BT, said, “Cyber security is now at the top of the agenda for businesses and governments, who need to be able to trust that they’re protected against increasing levels of attack. Adding SAFE to BT’s proactive, predictive security services will give customers an enhanced view of their threat level, and rapidly pinpoint specific actions needed to strengthen their defences. Already one of the world’s leading providers in a highly  fragmented security market, this investment is a clear sign of BT’s ambition to grow further.” 

Founded by Saket Modi, Vidit Baxi, and Rahul Tyagi in 2012, Safe Security  helps organisations measure and mitigate enterprise-wide cyber risk in real-time using it’s ML Enabled API-First SAFE platform. The company boasts of having over 200 customers spread across the world. 

Commenting on the development,  Saket Modi, cofounder, and CEO of Safe Security, said: “We’re delighted to be working with a proven global security leader in BT. Their investment and strategic partnership with Safe  Security will further accelerate our vision of making SAFE scores the industry standard for  measuring and mitigating cyber risks. By aligning BT’s global reach and capabilities with SAFE’s  ability to provide real-time visibility on cyber risk posture, we are going to fundamentally  change how cyber security is measured and managed across the globe.” 

The company is backed by John Chambers and senior executives from Softbank, Sequoia, PayPal, SAP, and McKinsey & Co. Since 2018, it has been working with MIT in joint research for the development of its SAFE scoring algorithm.