MobileSpaces gets $8.6M to secure apps at work & protect employee privacy

Your company’s IT department has the power to wipe personal data off your smartphone — a scary proposition for anyone who values privacy.

This problem has been exacerbated in recent years as more employees bring personal devices to work. On these smartphones, apps like Dropbox and Evernote are often used concurrently for work and play, which is a minefield for a corporate IT team if employees ever lose their phone or move on to a new job.

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MobileSpaces believes it has a solution to this problem, and it just raised $8.6 million to bring its technology to market.

CEO David Goldschlag said he was inspired to develop a new system to secure apps at work. “If you ever leave the enterprise, they reserve the right to your data,” he said. He first noticed that employers were given too much visibility into personal data several years ago during a stint at Internet security giant McAfee.

According to Goldschlag, when employees move on, IT is typically authorized to delete sensitive, work-specific data, including e-mail and files. But this means personal information will be wiped in the process.

Together with CTO Yoav Weiss, Goldschlag designed a simple “mobile workspace” for employees to use on an Android or iOS device. IT governs this workspace — but not personal e-mail, social media sites, or other apps. This workspace is also a secure place for companies to share sensitive information with employees.

[Concerned about security and the cloud? We’ll be discussing this topic at CloudBeat 2013.]

There is no limit on how many apps can be secured in the “workspace.” Goldschlag claims this sets MobileSpaces apart from its competition, namely MobileIron and Good Technology.

To test its solution, MobileSpaces is running 12 pilot tests at large companies. Goldschlag says he’s confident with the results — with the funding, he’ll hire sales and marketing folk to push MobileSpaces into companies in key markets. In the early days, the team will market its technology to health care, banking and financial services, law, and insurance.

The funding round was led by Marker LLC with participation from existing venture investor Accel Partners.

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