Home Network Cybersecurity Startup SAM Raises $12 Million

SAM’s software is installed onto home routers to protect home networks and the devices connected to them

Home network cybersecurity startup Securing SAM Ltd. has raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Intel Capital, the company announced Wednesday. Blumberg Capital, ADT Inc., and NightDragon, the cybersecurity venture capital firm headed by cyber industry veteran Dave DeWalt, also participated in the round. The round brings SAM’s total funding raised to date to $16 million.

 

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DeWalt has joined SAM as chairman of the board, the company said.

 

SAM co-founders Eilon Lotem (left), Sivan Rauscher, and Shmuel Chafets. Photo: Tomer Rotenberg

Founded in 2016 by CEO Sivan Rauscher, CTO Eilon Lotem, and vice chairman Shmuel Chafets, all former cyber specialists in the Israeli Army, SAM develops software that can be installed onto home routers, detecting and blocking malware before it reaches connected devices.

 

“Many companies today develop cybersecurity products for IoT devices; we do not look at the devices, but instead look to the users,” Rauscher told Calcalist in an interview Wednesday. According to Rauscher, the company implants a code onto the router to protect the network and everything connected to it. The strategy of protecting individual devices is “limited,” Rauscher said. “I was looking for the common denominator, and everyone has a router. This way you do not have to buy specific devices to benefit from protection,” she said.

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The company, which has partnered with Intel's connected home division to integrate its technology with the latter’s chipsets, emerged from stealth mode in February 2018. According to the company, it already monitors more than 4 million devices. SAM is advised by Nadav Zafir, Israel Grimberg, and Liran Grinberg, co-founders of Israeli cybersecurity foundry Team8.

 

The company intends to use the funding to increase its employee count by 40% in the coming year, and to open offices in Berlin and New York.