Data, Security Monopolize B2B Funding Rounds

There may be a few resilient, strategic entrepreneurs out there who don’t need venture capital to run a successful startup. Such was the case for several companies profiled this week by The New York Times, which shed light on the minority of startup owners that decide not to take outside investment.

Whether it’s because venture capitalists wanted too large of a share of the company, or because entrepreneurs tend to spend less frivolously with money that isn’t their own, or simply because seed funding never pulled through, these startups survived on their owners’ own capital.

But experts agree that it’s not the norm. “It’s a huge anomaly,” said Small Business Administration Head of Innovation and Investment Mark Walsh, referencing the ability for startup founders to make it without venture capital.

For the rest of the startup population, however, venture capital is critical to survival, and a few B2B startups this week weren’t afraid to admit it. Check out who secured venture capital in our breakdown below.

Enterprise Security

Ionic Security

It may have begun as a way for individuals to take control of the data they share on social media sites, but Ionic Security has begun to shift its focus to securing the data of enterprises and their employees. On Tuesday (May 31), the company announced a $45 million funding round with some big-time backers, including Amazon, Goldman Sachs and Hayman Capital.

Existing investors GV, Icon Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Meritech Capital Partners and Tech Operators also participated in the round, reports said.

With the new support, the company said it will “double down on engaging the external development community,” creating tools for developers to make Ionic Security’s solutions more custom-fit for enterprise users and a company’s existing software.

“We believe that Ionic’s platform addresses one of the biggest unsolved security problems for large enterprises today: how to enable employees to utilize modern communication and collaboration platforms, while also maintaining adequate controls and security standards,” said Goldman Managing Director and Head of Software Investment Ward Waltemath in a statement.

Featurespace

This U.K. startup has a particular target in mind for its enterprise security solutions: financial services. With nearly $9 million in fresh venture capital, Featurespace said it plans to go after this client base with its data analytics and behavior analysis technologies and said on Tuesday that it will look to expand within the financial services sectors in both the U.K. and U.S.

The funding round was led by Imperial Innovations and TTV Capital, and the announcement of the investment coincided with news that Featurespace secured TSYS as its latest partner, a move that sees Featurespace provide behavioral analytics solutions to TSYS’ payments services to reduce fraud.

According to reports, Featurespace enables predictive analytics to pinpoint the potential for fraud and identify likely fraudulent transactions. The firm’s software is used by businesses across 180 nations, reports added.

Data & Business Intelligence

BRIDGEi2i Analytics Solutions

Featurespace wasn’t the only startup this week operating in the data analytics game.

With its first round of funding, India-based BRIDGEi2i is set to expand its data analytics solutions into developing business applications that use machine learning.The company didn’t reveal how much it raised in its Series A round when it was announced on Wednesday (June 1), but the firm did say that it plans to use the backing — raised from Edelweiss Private Equity — to expand its operations across both India and the U.S.

“Big Data and analytics is becoming a critically important driver for business success across sectors globally,” Edelweiss Private Equity Head Pranav Parikh said in a statement. “What is unique about BRIDGEi2i is their differentiated offering that blends analytics expertise with technology and a proven leadership team, which positions them well for a non-linear growth trajectory.”