Why KEEN continues to back EclecticIQ and European Cybersecurity
We are excited to announce today that KEEN is participating (again) in the latest Series C investment for EclecticIQ (www.eclecticiq.com). We first met Joep Gommers and the team back in 2017 when they set out to build the European leader in cyber threat intelligence by providing a centralised threat intelligence platform to safeguard the world’s governments and enterprises. We were immediately impressed by the insights the founding team had on the challenges faced by governments and enterprises in order to protect multiple system endpoints, analyse intelligence data streams from multiple sources and actively manage potential threats on the horizon. Ultimately, we shared the vision of building EclecticIQ to be a holistic European cybersecurity leader with global customers supported by top caliber talent and invested in their Series B later that year.
Since then, EclecticIQ has evolved from an on-premise tool to a platform for cloud threat intelligence, cybersecurity data stream orchestration and collaboration, threat hunting and endpoint protection. Their list of customers has also grown to cover Fortune500 and government security agencies globally, supported by the best European cybersecurity talent in their Amsterdam HQ.
Today, attacks on governments and enterprises have evolved and are more sophisticated. Security Operation Centres in large institutions are increasingly dealing with more varied threat types and attack vectors, a higher volume of threat intelligence data to comb through, and increasing management overhead from multiple cybersecurity vendors.
Challenge of endless endpoints
As a Chief Security Officer (CSO), the simple days of protecting only against OWASP (web app attacks) are long gone. In today’s world of multiple and layered endpoints, the CSO is in charge of securing a multitude of potential attack surfaces including (but not limited to) cloud access, on-prem and hybrid server protection, public and private API access, multiple layered network access points, employee desktop and emails, data storage on and off cloud, mobile and other IoT devices. Jumping on these disparate vulnerability surfaces, there are multiple cybersecurity companies (start-ups and corporates) looking to own every type of endpoint protection.
The need for solution consolidation has never been greater due to the sheer amount of vendors a CSO needs to manage to keep his/her institution truly secure. There is a clear need for a one-stop shops for CSOs.
Earlier this year the team welcomed the Polylogyx team into the EclecticIQ family. Polylogyx’s best-in-class tech stack and cybersecurity talent for threat hunting / endpoint detection are invaluable to the future of EclecticIQ.
At KEEN we see this trend of solution consolidation as an opportunity for high-calibre cybersecurity founders to tackle the forever changing vulnerabilities in the modern tech stack.
A European cybersecurity platform in the making
It is also no secret that the world has been getting more geo-politically centric over the past half decade. With the growing tension between the United States and China as well as Brexit looming, there is an increased need for governments to protect national interests and safety against potential adverse foreign acts. However, the majority of cybersecurity companies and VC investment to date have been within the United States.
A double click on continental European VC investment into cybersecurity over the last decade reveals that the largest rounds and most mature VC-backed companies are still point solutions.
This trend identifies a clear market gap for European cybersecurity technology funding and an opportunity with time to build “home grown”, world class, full featured cybersecurity platforms in Europe.
At KEEN we truly believe EclecticIQ can be such a platform. The team has made significant technology investment into the core platform that enables new features like threat hunting/incident response with scalability from day one. In addition, EclecticIQ is fast expanding into the large enterprise cybersecurity market on the back of its strong reputation from flagship government customers. Finally and most importantly is human capital: EclecticIQ is able to attract the best global cybersecurity talent led by a visionary management team that we are proud to be partnering with.
We are very excited to continue on this adventure with Joep and the team through this funding round!
Looking for a role in cybersecurity? Open roles at EclecticIQ: www.eclecticiq.com/jobs
Like the article and building your own cybersecurity start-up/scale-up in Europe? Connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/jackwanguk/ to chat more.
