Digital security startup Uniken raises $2 M from Exfinity Venture Partners

Digital security firm Uniken has raised $2 million (Rs 12 crore) from Exfinity Venture Partners, a startup fund floated by veterans like TV Mohandas Pai, V Balakrishnan, Girish Paranjpe and Deepak Ghaisas. The funds raised will be channeled to fuel international expansion and to establish market leadership in India.

Uniken, is a proven security and innovation partner to leading banks and financial institutions, and currently has over a million users on its flagship REL-ID platform. It has garnered over 2 million users who actively use this platform across 23 different installations pan India, including leading banks like ING Vysya Bank, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of India and State Bank of India.

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Uniken’s technology has also been adopted by Indian Defence organizations like WESEE and NSG. In Israel, Uniken has set up an office in Tel Aviv and has partnered with a leading Israeli system integrator Bynet.

Speaking about funding, Sanjay Deshpande, CEO, Uniken said, “Given the high credentials and deep global experience of the partners in Exfinity, this milestone reinforces the belief in the growth story of Uniken in the digital security space. Over the last year, we have made successful forays into the global markets and received endorsements for REL-ID in Israel and the US. With this partnership with Exfinity, we aim to make REL-ID a strategic asset for global enterprises to rapidly grow their digital business."

The brainchild of Sanjay, Prakash Salvi, Nilesh Dhande and Eashwar Ganapathy -- Uniken had earlier raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Nexus Venture Partners.

Recommended read: Creating a network for secure communications for over a million users in India, Uniken’s story

Balakrishnan V, Chairman of Exfinity Venture Partners said, “The increasing ferocity and scope of cyber-attacks worldwide, growing awareness of the problem, and the steady blurring of the lines between cyber security and our personal, financial, and national security has led to a significant global upswing in investment over the past two years. Uniken provides a digital connectivity and access platform (software) – REL-ID -- that creates a scalable private digital network of users, apps and devices. Exfinity’s philosophy is to back companies that create disruption and Uniken fits the bill perfectly.”

Currently, the worldwide cyber security market is estimated in the range from $71 billion in 2014 to $155 plus billion by 2019. Global spending on mobile and network security is estimated at $11 billion annually.

As organizations worldwide become more and more aware of the risks posed by the lack of protection against cyber threats, information security spending will continue to increase. With this round, Uniken is focusing on global expansion and it would be interesting to watch how homegrown digital security startup fares up in international markets.

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