CyberFortress bags $3m to help boost cyber insurance cover for SMEs

CyberFortress, an insurance platform protecting e-commerce companies from cyber threats, has bagged $3m in a seed round.

The investment was co-led by Greycroft and LiveOak Venture Partners, with contributions also coming from previous CyberFortress backer Monte Tulum Capital.

Funds from the round will be used to expand the product development team, and accelerate the launch of its product in Texas, which is set for early 2020.

The company was founded in 2017 to create a new approach to cyber insurance for small businesses. To do this, the company is building a parametric, online revenue interruption policy for e-commerce companies which insures them against the risk of downtime caused by cyber issues including cyberattacks, internal errors and third-party failure.

CyberFortress CEO Huw Edwards said, “The main cyber threat facing e-commerce companies is downtime. A DDoS attack, service provider outage, or internal error that takes down their website can be devastating to an e-commerce company.

“If a small e-commerce company can’t collect revenue, they may not be able to make their next payroll. Our policy is laser-focused on solving this critical problem.”

The startup uses data collection and machine learning technology to assess an e-commerce company’s risk of suffering downtime, using just their business email address.

As part of the deal, LiveOak founding partner Venu Shamapant has joined the board of directors.

With the rising number of cyber threats, cyber insurance is becoming an increasing attractive opportunity.

Richard Fry from Greycroft backed Pie insurance during its $45m Series B that cyber insurance should be made mandatory due to the heavy financial costs it can cause companies.

Earlier in the year, Greycroft backed Pie insurance during its $45m Series B round. The company helps SMBs make more informed buying decisions for worker’s compensation.