Israeli Cybersecurity Firm Lands $30M To Expand Into Vehicle Protection

Israel’s Upstream Security has notched $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Renault Venture Capital, Upstream announced in a press release on Monday (Oct. 21).

The funding included Volvo Group Venture Capital, Hyundai, Hyundai AutoEver, Nationwide Ventures as well as others. Original investors Charles River Ventures, Glilot Capital and Maniv Mobility also took part in the round.

“This first of its kind investor syndicate, which includes some of the most important smart mobility companies in the world, is a testament to the severity of the problem the industry is tackling and a ringing endorsement of Upstream’s technology and the progress our team has made,” Yoav Levy, Upstream Security co-founder and CEO, said in the release.

“Our mission is to protect every connected vehicle and smart mobility service on the planet — the completion of our funding is perfectly timed to meet the growing demand for our data-driven cloud-based platform, providing our customers with the capabilities they need to accomplish this vitally important task,” he added.

Upstream Security wants to leverage the software market to protect vehicles from cyber-carjacking. The issue first came to light in 2015 when an article in Wired showed researchers hacking a Jeep Cherokee SUV while it was driving.

“The problem on the mind in some boardrooms of the (automakers) is really what are the consequences and the risks that we now have in our cars once we introduce connectivity to them,” Upstream Vice President Dan Sahar told Reuters. “No company wants to be the next one that happens to.”

Autonomous vehicles require an approach that establishes a security framework for the vehicles as well as the infrastructure connecting them. The Upstream C4 platform does that by enabling manufacturers to detect, monitor and respond to attacks.

In other news, The Bank of Israel announced the launch last month of its first new financial institution in decades. The digital bank is led by entrepreneurs Marius Nacht of cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies, and Amnon Shashua of autonomous driving developer Mobileye NV.