Cyber Defense startup Mission Secure raises Series A venture financing to accelerate growth and expansion to energy, defense, and transportation sectors

Mission Secure Inc. (MSi), a cyber defense startup focused on energy, defense, and transportation, has closed raised undisclosed amount  in Series A financing round to accelerate growth and expansion of its throughout the energy, defense, and transportation sectors. The latest round was led by Energy Innovation Capital (EIC) and Chevron Technology Ventures. R/GA Ventures and Macquarie Capital also participated in the financing along with existing investors Blue Bear Capital, Felton Group, LLC, and the University of Virginia Seed Fund.

Originally funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and in partnership with the University of Virginia, their risk assessment methodology and patent-pending hardware/software product were initially developed to help protect critical defense platforms such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ships, and their important payloads like weapons and control systems.

Founded in 2014 by Barry Horowitz, Daniel Park, and David Drescher, MSi is a leading provider of control system cybersecurity to some of the world’s largest organizations in the defense, energy, and transportation industries. The MSi Platform takes operational technology cybersecurity to all levels of control systems while maintaining the benefits of a networked environment which can be deployed and managed by a non-IT professional. The results bring cyber visibility and end point protection to operational technology (OT) and control systems in an easy to deploy and manage platform. The company is backed by a seasoned team of cyber security, control system, combat and business experts committed to protecting critical physical assets, and the control systems that monitor and operate them.

The patented MSi Platform is the only cybersecurity solution in the market that effectively delivers visibility and protection for industrial-grade control devices inside of secure environments. Customers including major energy companies and several agencies within the US Department of Defense (DoD) benefit from the platform being simple to install and configure, which allows the MSi Platform to produce and distribute actionable information within minutes of configuration. Customers deploying the MSi Platform will be shielded from malware, advanced persistent threats, zero-day exploits, as well as insider threats and supply chain interdictions.

The industry leading team of financial and strategic investors with deep ties across energy and infrastructure in the U.S. and globally will help management rapidly expand solutions to customers trying to better assess their most critical control system cyber risks and deploy the MSi Platform to protect customers’ important physical assets from cyber-attacks.

Energy Innovation Capital (EIC), the leading growth investment firm, invests in technologies that increase operational efficiency, reduce risk, and increase sustainability. “As the digitization of the energy industry continues and increasing numbers of devices get connected, Mission Secure provides a level of industrial cybersecurity E&P operators have been asking for,” said George Coyle, Managing Partner of Energy Innovation Capital (EIC). “Mission Secure enables safer, more cost-effective operations by protecting assets and reducing risks,” Coyle added.

Macquarie Group Venture Studio with R/GA is a platform designed to promote innovations in InfraTech, with a focus on energy from source to switch. As a global leader in infrastructure, Macquarie Capital is focused on innovative energy solutions.

“By investing in companies committed to innovating upon infrastructure, we’re ultimately investing in the future,” said Stephen Plumlee, EVP Global Chief Operating Officer at R/GA Ventures. He adds, “We’re eager to advance these business leaders who will shape how we experience the world.”

“The financial capital provided by world leading energy investors will help us expand the team and execute on our mission to help shield the global energy industry from cyber-attacks, while helping the military be better protected from cyber adversaries,” said David Drescher, co-founder and CEO of Mission Secure.