On a mission to end email cyber attacks, Agari scores $15M

Wouldn’t it be great if email was safe from phishing and other cyber attacks? Security provider Agari has just raised $15 million to try to make that happen.

Email’s “strength [as an open communication tool] also makes it the weakest link in the security chain,” founder and CEO Patrick Peterson said in a statement.

“We’re leveraging our massive dataset of over one trillion messages analyzed [to develop] power solutions that take email out of the cybercrime equation to eliminate abuse, preserve brand equity, and keep consumers safe,” he said.

Agari’s authentication approach apparently assembles data from more than two billion email accounts to flag or stop suspicious communications — blocking more than 200 suspected emails every month and fingering over two million potentially harmful URLs.

Scale Venture Partners led the Series C funding round, with participation from existing investors Alloy Ventures, Battery Ventures, First Round Capital, and others. ScaleVP partner Ariel Tseitlin will join the board of directors.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company said the new money, which brings its total funding to $22.7 million, will be used for additional efforts to drive growth.