Post-Quantum raises $8 million as cybersecurity investments surge

Post-Quantum, a U.K.-based cybersecurity firm, has closed an £8 million ($10.4 million) Series A round from Hong Kong-based VMS Investment Group and AM Partners.

Founded out of London in 2009, Post-Quantum specializes in what it calls “defence-grade” cybersecurity tools, aimed at enterprises and organizations such as investment banks, government, and healthcare. The company’s suite of tools includes biometric authentication, a secure encrypted communications platform for mobile and desktop, and a blockchain enabler that provides a log of “critical events” for compliance and security.

The company had raised around $1 million in seed funding before, and its latest cash infusion will be used to build its product suite. Post-Quantum is actually backed by a number of notable figures from the cryptology and cybersecurity world, including former NSA technical director Brian Snow, who sits on the company’s advisory board.

“We have established a strong reputation and generated a lot of interest from some of the biggest names in financial services and government, so having the funding and support of VMS Investment Group and AM Partners is integral to our growth,” said Post-Quantum CEO Andersen Cheng. “Our vision is to protect the world’s information, and this funding will enable us to do that.”

Cybersecurity has emerged as one of the hottest industries for investment in recent times. Earlier this week, Darktrace raised $65 million for a system that uses machine learning and mathematics to identify abnormalities in companies’ online networks, while a few weeks back, SecurityScorecard raised $20 million for its cybersecurity risk-monitoring platform. This came shortly after Cylance raised $100 million for a system that uses A.I. to help businesses protect themselves from advanced security threats.

Big tech companies, including Microsoft, are also investing heavily in the field through acquisitions, while others are addressing the anticipated shortage in cybersecurity personnel — estimates suggest that the industry will be short by around 1.5 million people by the end of the decade.

Last month, Cisco announced a new $10 million scholarship program to “increase the pool of available talent with critical cybersecurity proficiency.” This followed Facebook open-sourcing its Capture the Flag competition platform to teach developers about cybersecurity.