FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AlertEnterprise, Inc. announced today that Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has joined existing investors, Opus Capital and Startup Farms Investors, in leading a $19 Million investment in the Security Convergence software company. AlertEnterprise delivers true prevention of theft, fraud and acts of terrorism against critical infrastructure by analyzing and instantly responding to risks from blended threats across IT Systems, Physical Access Control Systems and Industrial Control Systems. KPCB Managing Partner Ray Lane will join the company’s Board of Directors.
“The most insidious risks are simple acts that slip between physical and logical security systems,” says Jasvir Gill, Founder and CEO of AlertEnterprise. “The physical security, industrial control systems and IT systems in companies today, operate in segregated organizational silos. However, real-world security incidents don’t come neatly packaged as IT or non-IT incidents. The secret to true security lies in eliminating these silos, analyzing the risks in real-time, and seeing the big picture.” Mr. Gill adds, “With this investment, Kleiner Perkins has validated our vision and endorsed a proven solution.”
KPCB invested in Jasvir’s previous startup Virsa Systems, a hugely successful application security and compliance software company that was acquired by SAP for $400 Million to become the core of the SAP GRC software product line. Ray Lane, the KPCB Managing Partner who led the round and is also the non-Executive Chairman of the Board of Hewlett Packard, states that “Infrastructure Security has lagged behind the requirements of both the market and the Nation. With its disruptive innovation, AlertEnterprise has captured the imagination of CIOs and CISOs alike by practically demonstrating that power outages and incidents related to pipelines, oil rigs and refineries can be prevented with powerful and predictive risk analytics.”
Some of the largest asset owners and operators in the utilities industry, in particular, are challenged with complex compliance requirements directed at securing the grid and operating assets. Michael Assante, the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the North American Electricity Reliability Council (NERC), the body empowered to enforce reliability standards, states that, “Compliance alone cannot make Utilities secure. The heightened threats against power generation and grid operators need continuous active policy enforcement. The AlertEnterprise solution cuts across organizational silos and precisely delivers the necessary level of enforcement.” Michael Assante is the President of the National Board of Information Security Examiners (NBISE).
Responding to challenges facing the Utilities industry, NIPSCO Director, NERC Compliance and Operations Technology, Tim Conway states, “Cyber security and insider threats are some of the most pressing concerns for utilities today. Utilities are subject to regulations that must take into account both logical and physical security. Having a single solution that can address security, access management and compliance across all these organizational silos has become an industry necessity. AlertEnterprise will enable us to secure our critical operating assets and meet our regulatory obligations.”
In addition to Critical infrastructure Protection, AlertEnterprise has successfully created solutions for Airport Security, Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution, Nuclear Power Plant Cyber Security, Federal Cross-Agency Identity and Access Management, and Multi-Regulatory Compliance Automation.
About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Since its founding in 1972, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has backed entrepreneurs in over 500 ventures, including AOL, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq Computer, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Lotus, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Verisign and Xilinx. KPCB portfolio companies employ more than 250,000 people. More than 150 of the firm’s portfolio companies have gone public. Many other ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. The firm has offices in Menlo Park, California; Beijing, China; and Shanghai, China. For additional information visit, www.kpcb.com.
About Opus Capital
Opus Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $1 billion of committed capital under management, investing in committed, high integrity entrepreneurs building market-leading technology companies. The team has strong operational expertise and has partnered with entrepreneurs to create successful outcomes for more than 80 companies (including 50 IPOs) in the U.S. and in Israel including Adaptec, AirGate PCS, BlueNile, Brocade, Ciena, DoubleClick, Electronics for Imaging, FedEx, Genesys, Harmonic, Informatica, Kidaro, and Vantive. Opus Capital is headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit www.opuscapital.com.
About AlertEnterprise
AlertEnterprise leverages Security Convergence technology to deliver Enterprise Identity and Access Management software to automate on-boarding / off-boarding, and enable active policy enforcement for true prevention of theft, sabotage and acts of terrorism. AlertEnterprise uniquely eliminates silos and uncovers blended threats across IT security, Physical Access Controls and Industrial Control Systems. AlertEnterprise delivers multi-regulatory compliance management for utilities, airports, federal agencies and other industries, as well as situational awareness with command and control capabilities for effective response to critical threats and protection of critical infrastructure. AlertEnterprise was founded in 2007 and has offices in Fremont, California; Singapore; Paris, France; and Chandigarh, India.