PODCAST: Interview with Kasada founder and CEO, Sam Crowther following a $6.5 million capital raise with support from the CSIRO-backed venture firm Main Sequence Ventures and the Westpac-backed Reinventure Group.
Kasada has announced that it closed its $7 Million Series A round, which includes funding from its newest investor In-Q-Tel, Inc. (IQT), a non-profit organisation focused on technology capabilities to support the Australian and U.S. national security communities.
The Kasada solution detects and mitigates malicious bot traffic that other security measures are unable to identify. Kasada’s security Software-as-a-Service offers strategic protection on a massive scale against attacks on websites, mobile apps, and APIs, including account takeovers, data-scraping, and other unwanted automated activities.
With a time to value of under 30 minutes, Kasada offers a unique, cost-effective solution to bot attacks that improves network bandwidth saturation, computing infrastructure costs, and digital marketing ROI.
Kasada founder and CEO, Sam Crowther said “In-Q-Tel’s backing, alongside the
company’s existing Australian VC investors Main Sequence Ventures’ CSIRO Innovation
Fund, Our Innovation Fund and Reinventure Group, is a strong validation of Kasada’s
cyber-resilient technology, and credibility of the team leading the company growth.”
In the past 12 months, Kasada has doubled its engineering and customer-facing teams.
Its most recent notable hire is Pascal Podvin, appointed Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). A
driver of numerous technology company success stories, of which the most recent is the
Australian company ThreatMetrix where he also served as CRO, Mr. Podvin brings a
highly respected and extensive expertise in cybersecurity.
“Kasada has been protecting large Australia, U.K., and U.S. companies from malicious
bot attacks. With IQT now on board, we have the right partners to help fast-track the
delivery of our leading-edge technology,” said Mr. Podvin.
IQT seeks and invests in companies whose technologies demonstrate the potential for
high national security impact and commercial success. The company established its
office in early 2019 in support of the Australian national security community and its
allies.
“Governments, just like large enterprises and small businesses, are challenged by cyber
threats every day,” said Peter Tague, Executive Vice President, IQT. “Kasada’s technology
and team impressed us, and we are glad to welcome them to the portfolio as well as
celebrate this as our first investment in Australia.”
Brigid O’Brien, co-managing director of IQT Australia stated, “The Kasada solution not
only strengthens website security, it dramatically shifts the economics of security in favor
of website owners.”
Cyber criminals are increasingly using sophisticated automation to launch attacks on
websites, mobile apps, and APIs, which is why automation is key to staying ahead of the
threats whereas analysts are just catching up.
“In today’s highly connected world, a secure digital experience is key to building and
retaining trust” says Mr. Crowther. “Smart businesses know cybersecurity; data
protection and customer experience are inextricably linked.”
Further Reading:
Australia’s Growing Bot Threat Revealed https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/australias-growing-bot-threat-revealed/
Helping humanity’s battle against bots https://australiancybersecuritymagazine.com.au/helping-humanitys-battle-against-bots/
REPORT – Bots Down Under – https://www.mysecuritymarketplace.com/product/bots-down-under/
