EDBI in $40m round for US-based Shape
EDBI, the corporate VCs arm of Singapore's Economic Development Board, has joined a $40 million Series D round for Shape Security, a US-based provider of online security technology.
The round, which also includes Hewlett Packard, Northern Light Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, is intended to help Shape accelerate its growth in the Asia Pacific region. Hewlett Packard Enterprise will also offer Shape to its corporate customers worldwide as part of its Pathfinder program for venture investment and partnership.
Shape's platform is focused on stopping automated attacks on corporate systems; this type of attack is becoming increasingly dangerous due to improved technology and sophistication on the part of online criminals. The company estimates that it has prevented over $1 billion in fraud losses for both corporate and government clients.
EDBI's investment marks the close of the Series D round, which the company first announced in January when Northern Light joined. The GP, which normally targets early stage investments in China's IT, consumer services, cleantech and healthcare sectors, took part with an eye to supporting Shape's expansion in China.
"As automated attacks on web and mobile sites become more prevalent and harder to defend against with existing solutions, we believe Shape Security's highly innovative cybersecurity platform can be a game changer that offers enterprises real-time protection against such threats," said Swee Yeok Chu, CEO and president of EDBI, in a statement. "We are pleased that Shape is leveraging Singapore to access Asian customers and partners in the region to advance their global growth strategy."
This is EDBI's third announced investment in a digital security-related company in the last month. In August the firm took part in a $50 million round for US-based security intelligence and analytics platform LogRhythm; it went on to participate in a Sequoia Capital-led investment of $51 million in Indian cloud data security and information management solutions provider Druva.
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