SPRINGTIDE VENTURES AND ROCKAWAY INVEST INTO THE CZECH STARTUP THREATMARK

ThreatMarks.r.o., a company that has developed a solution for mobile and web-based applications that provides effective protection against fraud and cyberattacks, has attracted two leading domestic investors. The Springtide Ventures Fund from the KKCG Group and the Rockaway Ventures Division of the Rockaway Investment Group have acquired a 32.2% stake in ThreatMark.

The two investors intend to provide ThreatMark not only with financial backing, but also with know-how, and take part in the company’s management and assist it with market entry in other European countries as well as in the U.S. and Asia.

ThreatMark was established in Brno two years ago as a laboratory specializing in the development of solutions for cybersecurity and protection against online fraud. The company’s products are the response to the insufficient security of online applications and, more importantly, the fact that the security of their users continues to be neglected. Apart from developing proprietary security solutions, ThreatMark conducts research into malware detection, artificial intelligence, and behavioral biometry, and applies the results of its research activities into the production environment, banking systems in particular.

Thanks to its robust nature, the system developed by ThreatMark is able to compete with established brands on the fraud detection market.The unique features and the company’s innovative approach to rapid integration helps to gain competitive advantage. ThreatMark’s solution processes hundreds of parameters that define clients’ actions when opening a new account online, during the logon process, and also helps to protect users during their interaction with the applications. It analyzes hundreds of connection, device and session parameters and measures the interaction of the users with the device and the application. This in combination with action context and transaction content analysis is used to predict high-risk operations, detect hacker attacks against payment systems, and prevent unauthorized access to online accounts in mobile and web-based applications. The solution also allows banks to comply with the legal requirements under the PSD2 directive.

ThreatMark currently operates in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

During its beginnings, ThreatMark was assisted by the CleverlanceGroup, a Czech IT corporation that acted as a seed investor, and provided ThreatMark with the necessary starting capital and access to the Czech and Slovak markets through its subsidiary AEC, a.s. AEC acted as ThreatMark’s system integrator and brokered contacts to its established clients in the financial sector. Cleverlance will continue to hold an ownership interest in the company.

“ThreatMark has developed a system that very effectively detects the entire spectrum of fraud and current attacks against online applications. Thanks to its robust nature, the product is able to compete with established brands on the fraud detection market, and the company’s innovative approach facilitates fast integration into existing IT systems,” explained AEC’s CEO and ThreatMark’s co-founder TomášStrýček. 

By acquiring a stake in this Czech startup, Springtide Ventures has demonstrated adherence to its strategy of investing into Central European and Israeli companies with a potential to operate on the global scale and succeed on advanced markets, particularly in Europe and in the U.S. As in other projects, the fund plans to take advantage of its strengths: the KKCG Group’s size and resources, effective management system, IT expertise, base of operations in the heart of Europe, and experience with expansion to global markets. 

“We find ThreatMark attractive because of its products and the market it targets. The number of attacks against services that require online login grows every year in terms of their frequency, extent, and seriousness. For instance, while as much as 200 million dollars was stolen from online accounts in the United Kingdom alone in 2014, the sum grew by another 25% one year later. At the same time, a significant portion of attacks remain undetected for a long time, in part due to their increasingly sophisticated nature,” said Executive Director of Springtide Ventures Marek Jablonský.   

“For most startups, venture capital is the holy grail. We’ve succeeded in reaching this milestone, thanks to the hard work and expertise of the entire ThreatMark team. The new capital as well as the extensive experience of our partners will allow us not only to accelerate the development of our product, but also, and more importantly, to boost business activities on foreign markets,” added Michal Tresner, Executive Director and one of the founders of ThreatMark. 

For the Rockaway Investment Group, the transaction adds another company to the startup portfolio of the Rockaway Ventures Division. The decision to buy into ThreatMark was based on the company’s team of technology experts and unique solution with high global scaling potential.The transaction has been overseen by Andrea Lauren, a Rockaway Instrument Partner and fintech specialist who has recently joined the group’s management.

ThreatMarks.r.o., a company that has developed a solution for mobile and web-based applications that provides effective protection against fraud and cyberattacks, has attracted two leading domestic investors. The Springtide Ventures Fund from the KKCG Group and the Rockaway Ventures Division of the Rockaway Investment Group have acquired a 32.2% stake in ThreatMark.

The two investors intend to provide ThreatMark not only with financial backing, but also with know-how, and take part in the company’s management and assist it with market entry in other European countries as well as in the U.S. and Asia.

ThreatMark was established in Brno two years ago as a laboratory specializing in the development of solutions for cybersecurity and protection against online fraud. The company’s products are the response to the insufficient security of online applications and, more importantly, the fact that the security of their users continues to be neglected. Apart from developing proprietary security solutions, ThreatMark conducts research into malware detection, artificial intelligence, and behavioral biometry, and applies the results of its research activities into the production environment, banking systems in particular.

Thanks to its robust nature, the system developed by ThreatMark is able to compete with established brands on the fraud detection market.The unique features and the company’s innovative approach to rapid integration helps to gain competitive advantage. ThreatMark’s solution processes hundreds of parameters that define clients’ actions when opening a new account online, during the logon process, and also helps to protect users during their interaction with the applications. It analyzes hundreds of connection, device and session parameters and measures the interaction of the users with the device and the application. This in combination with action context and transaction content analysis is used to predict high-risk operations, detect hacker attacks against payment systems, and prevent unauthorized access to online accounts in mobile and web-based applications. The solution also allows banks to comply with the legal requirements under the PSD2 directive.

ThreatMark currently operates in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

During its beginnings, ThreatMark was assisted by the CleverlanceGroup, a Czech IT corporation that acted as a seed investor, and provided ThreatMark with the necessary starting capital and access to the Czech and Slovak markets through its subsidiary AEC, a.s. AEC acted as ThreatMark’s system integrator and brokered contacts to its established clients in the financial sector. Cleverlance will continue to hold an ownership interest in the company.

“ThreatMark has developed a system that very effectively detects the entire spectrum of fraud and current attacks against online applications. Thanks to its robust nature, the product is able to compete with established brands on the fraud detection market, and the company’s innovative approach facilitates fast integration into existing IT systems,” explained AEC’s CEO and ThreatMark’s co-founder TomášStrýček. 

By acquiring a stake in this Czech startup, Springtide Ventures has demonstrated adherence to its strategy of investing into Central European and Israeli companies with a potential to operate on the global scale and succeed on advanced markets, particularly in Europe and in the U.S. As in other projects, the fund plans to take advantage of its strengths: the KKCG Group’s size and resources, effective management system, IT expertise, base of operations in the heart of Europe, and experience with expansion to global markets. 

“We find ThreatMark attractive because of its products and the market it targets. The number of attacks against services that require online login grows every year in terms of their frequency, extent, and seriousness. For instance, while as much as 200 million dollars was stolen from online accounts in the United Kingdom alone in 2014, the sum grew by another 25% one year later. At the same time, a significant portion of attacks remain undetected for a long time, in part due to their increasingly sophisticated nature,” said Executive Director of Springtide Ventures Marek Jablonský.   

“For most startups, venture capital is the holy grail. We’ve succeeded in reaching this milestone, thanks to the hard work and expertise of the entire ThreatMark team. The new capital as well as the extensive experience of our partners will allow us not only to accelerate the development of our product, but also, and more importantly, to boost business activities on foreign markets,” added Michal Tresner, Executive Director and one of the founders of ThreatMark. 

For the Rockaway Investment Group, the transaction adds another company to the startup portfolio of the Rockaway Ventures Division. The decision to buy into ThreatMark was based on the company’s team of technology experts and unique solution with high global scaling potential.The transaction has been overseen by Andrea Lauren, a Rockaway Instrument Partner and fintech specialist who has recently joined the group’s management.