Mystery enterprise security startup Bluebox gets $9.5M from Andreessen Horowitz

Still in stealth mode, enterprise security startup Bluebox is keeping all the most juicy details of its business close to its chest. But we do know that the startup is compelling enough that it’s attracted a $9.5 million first funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Also on board is early Google investor and Sun Microsystems co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim, who is joining Bluebox’s board of directors along with Andreessen Horowitz’s Scott Weiss. So the company clearly has a lot going for it.

[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":476390,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,","session":"C"}']

At the helm of Bluebox is CEO and co-founder Caleb Sima, a serial entrepreneur who considers himself an old man in the security industry even though he’s just thirty-one.

According to Sima, Bluebox was born out of the realization that, while mobile use is growing rapidly in the enterprise, security is not. “When you are looking at mobile, security is one of the top critical concerns in terms of adoption,” Sima told VentureBeat.

The problem? It’s been product first and security second. “None of the big players are giving to the security guys what they are looking for,” he said.

“Our goal really is to create a unique solution that does not exist today and will hopefully disrupt the market,” Sima said.

Vague, right? Welcome to stealth.

Fortunately, Sima was at least able to talk a bit about his company’s name, which is drawn from the titular electronic devices used by hackers to steal phone calls.

“Blue boxes carry a lot of weight in tech culture. Steve Jobs, Wozniak — it’s an old school piece of technology that I think really shows the kind of innovation that all the hardcore tech guys will care about,” he said.

“Bluebox is a name that connects us to our culture: telephony, mobile, and our DNA as a security company,” Sima said.

[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":476390,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,","session":"C"}']

“And it’s also easy to spell,” he added.

Photo: Businessman with cell phone/Shutterstock

Design is determining the winners in everything mobile. The most successful players are focusing on one thing: How to make products, services, and devices as compelling and delightful as possible – visually, and experientially. MobileBeat 2012, July 10-11 in San Francisco , is assembling the most elite minds to debate how UI/UX is transforming every aspect of the mobile economy, and where the opportunities lie. Register here.