Your Source for Venture Capital and Private Equity Financings

Venture Capital News: Co3 Systems Snares Investment

2012-01-30
CAMBRIDGE, MA, Pioneer in Data Loss Management software, today announced its first institutional funding. Exact numbers and investors were not disclosed.
Co3 Systems, a pioneer in Data Loss Management software, today announced its first institutional funding and that it has added security and legal expert, Gant Redmon, to its executive team as Co3's first General Counsel and Vice President of Business Development. Redmon adds invaluable and unique expertise to Co3 and its customers by combining nearly 20 years of experience tracking law and regulations across multiple sectors with extensive startup experience in the security sector. Earlier in his career Redmon received distinction as an appointee on President Clinton's Export Counsel Subcommittee on Encryption (PECSENC), which navigated the needs of US corporations and the Federal Government to increase both National Security and global competitiveness.

In the wake of high profile breaches such as Zappos, and with massive, pending breach lawsuits against organizations like TRICARE, the addition of Redmon comes at a time of rapid expansion for Co3 -- fueled by a first round of venture funding -- to accommodate surging interest across multiple industry sectors.

Interest in Co3 stems largely from the fact that the company is targeting an unaddressed security/privacy issue at a time when breaches have become inevitable rather than avoidable. Recent data from Forrester states that 25 percent of organizations had suffered a breach in the last 12 months. However, with 21 percent unwilling to disclose, the number is likely much higher. In the face of this level of exposure, and with the vast majority of security investment and innovation spent on preventative technologies -- many of which are deployed after a breach has already occurred -- Co3 is unlocking a massive post-breach / incident response market opportunity by helping companies prepare, assess, and respond to data loss / breach situations. Co3 offers the industry's only automated, repeatable tool to prepare organizations for data loss events, assess their potential impact, and generate and manage incident response plans more efficiently.

"Co3's value proposition to customers is about blending our experience and expertise in security, privacy, and building great software," said John Bruce, CEO, Co3 Systems. "The nature of our business involves tracking, parsing and interpreting the constantly evolving morass of state, federal, industry and trade association regulations and making them actionable as risk assessments and incident response plans. Gant's extensive and intimate legal knowledge brings another incredibly valuable perspective to customer conversations. And we gain the added benefit of highly experienced in-house counsel to help guide our fast growing business."

Redmon has practiced law for 19 years with 15 years as in-house counsel at high-profile security software startups. Prior to joining Co3 Systems, he served as General Counsel for Arbor Networks, now part of the Danaher Corporation. At Arbor, Redmon was central to sales, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, financing, business development, and merger and acquisition activities. Redmon was also Counsel at Authentica (acquired by RSA/EMC) and AXENT Technologies (acquired by Symantec). He holds a Juris Doctorate degree from Wake Forest University School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, and is admitted to practice law in Virginia and Massachusetts.

Redmon commented, "Companies are more exposed and business is more vulnerable than it has ever been. Whether by hacker or human error, confusion and oversight are usually at the root of corporate loss and the subsequent damage. But while the method by which a breach happens will remain largely unpredictable, the exposure that comes after a breach doesn't have to be. Co3's mission and approach is exciting for me personally, and a unique opportunity for a General Counsel steeped in security and privacy to have a more far reaching impact on the business and its customers."

About Co3 Systems
Headquartered in Cambridge, MA, Co3 Systems is an innovator in Data Loss Management solutions. The company's SaaS-based offering enables organizations of all sizes to efficiently prepare for, and rapidly manage data loss events. Companies using Co3 demonstrably minimize the costs resulting from data loss incidents. With funding from Fairhaven Capital, the company's executive team and advisors comprise security expertise from world-leading security, software and service organizations. On the web at www.co3sys.com.
(c) by Massinvestor, Inc. For contact info, please check out our about page.
>> Click here for in-depth research on 9,000+ startups and 5,000+ VC investors