We back the best European founders with €1M-€10M tickets. We like any early stage B2B software business that is simply a little different, whether your market is considered “too boring” by some, your business model a little atypical, or your founder-passion bordering on obsession.

henQ

Dawn Capital is an early-stage venture fund focused on investing in the enterprise software and FinTech sectors. It provides capital and counsel to support founders to scale their business’s growth through talent, products, and business models to become category-defining, global companies. The firm is powered by cloud computing, ever-lowering barriers to entry and multi-player categories are changing the way people live and work. As this innovation continues, with the growth of AI and no-code applications, the investment opportunities in Dawn’s area of expertise continue to increase. Its portfolio companies include Mimecast, iZettle, Neo Technology, iControl, Showpad, and Gelato Group. Dawn Capital was founded by Haakon Overli and Norman Fiore in August 2006 and is based in London, United Kingdom.

Dawn Capital

DN Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests primarily in Europe and North America. The firm focuses on companies that plan to establish operations on both sides of the Atlantic, and strives to help its companies build international businesses. Founded in 2000, the company has operations in London and Silicon Valley. DN Capital’s previous funds are top performers and the firm is one of the lead investors in companies such as Endeca (sold to Oracle), Shazam (one of the world’s leading mobile app), Auto1 (world's largest used car marketplace), Purplebricks (IPO London) and Quandoo (sold to Recruit).

DN Capital

SmartFin is targeting exceptional B2B technology companies across Europe.

SmartFin

Zivver

Zivver is the effortless, smart, secure, digital communications platform, powering the next generation of secure communications.    With the hyper acceleration of digital transformation, regulatory reforms and hybrid work, we all need a modern secure communications platform that is highly usable, empowering secure work with maximum effectiveness and minimal disruption.    We’ve re-imagined secure communications, pioneering a solution from the ground up – a secure system that is frictionless with unparalleled encryption. We’re empowering people and enterprises, transforming the way people think, act and communicate – mitigating errors and semantically tailoring security levels as required. We call it effortless, smart security.

<div><p>Zivver was founded in the Netherlands and provides a solution which integrates with major email providers such as Microsoft 365 &amp; Google Workspace and enables organizations to implement security and privacy policies to the emails being sent. Key features include proactive monitoring of potential risks, encryption in transit, email recalling, and logging. The platform also enables organizations to easily comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR. As at October 2020, the company had more than 100 staff who served 3,500 customers, including the entire Dutch judicial system and 40% of hospitals in the Netherlands.</p></div>

New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

<div><p>Zivver is the effortless, smart, secure, digital communications platform, powering the next generation of secure communications. With the hyper acceleration of digital transformation, regulatory reforms and hybrid work, we all need a modern secure communications platform that is highly usable, empowering secure work with maximum effectivenessand minimal disruption. We’ve re-imagined secure communications, pioneering a solution from the ground up – a secure system that is frictionless with unparalleled encryption. We’re empowering people and enterprises, transforming the way people think, act and communicate – mitigating errors and semantically tailoring security levels as required. We call it effortless, smart security.</p></div>

AI-based solutions to level the playing field against email threats

Next-gen Email Security

Claranet improves communications security with Zivver

<div>
  <p>
    Zivver was founded in the Netherlands and provides a solution which integrates with major email providers such as Microsoft 365 &amp; Google Workspace and enables organizations to implement security and privacy policies to the emails being sent. Key features include proactive monitoring of potential risks, encryption in transit, email recalling, and logging. The platform also enables organizations to easily comply with privacy regulations such as GDPR. As at October 2020, the company had more than 100 staff who served 3,500 customers, including the entire Dutch judicial system and 40% of hospitals in the Netherlands.
  </p>
  <p>
    In October 2020, Zivver raised USD 17 million in Series B funding led by DN Capital, with participation from SmartFin, henQ, and Dawn Capital. The company aims to use the funding to accelerate its product development and fund expansion into the UK and other markets.
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    OneTrust provides compliance solutions that leverage AI tools and automation across all areas of privacy compliance. OneTrust Athena, the company&rsquo;s AI-powered solution, provides automation in the areas of data discovery, data subject rights management, consent management (with a user-facing preference center for greater control), data protection impact assessments, third-party risk management, incident response reporting, and monitoring. The company also provides regulatory research software that companies can use to train staff and even benchmark their own privacy programs. The company&rsquo;s Government Records Request Automation solution helps government organizations intake requests, automate data discovery and redaction, and provide a secure two-way communication portal that demonstrates compliance with FOIA, PRR, and the Privacy Act.
  </p>
  <p>
    OneTrust has strengthened its position in the digital privacy space through several acquisitions in recent years. In March 2021, OneTrust acquired DocuVision, an AI-powered data redaction platform to bolster its data subject rights capabilities through automatic redaction of non-relevant sensitive information. During the same month, OneTrust acquired Convercent to enhance its platform through advanced ethics and compliance capabilities, and helpline and disclosure management. OneTrust acquired the security assurance and certification platform Tugboat Logic in September 2021, to automate its InfoSec assurance and certification processes. Other notable acquisitions include Privacy Core e-learning, DataGuidance, and Integris Software.
  </p>
  <p>
    In March 2023, OneTrust announced the 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16852">
      <u>addition of certification automation</u>
    </a>
     to the OneTrust GRC and Security Assurance Cloud. This solution which combines automation, pre-built policies and controls spanning 29 industry frameworks, over 100 integrations, compliance content, and expert guidance enables customers to simplify and streamline compliance tasks according to OneTrust.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Key customers and partnerships</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    OneTrust entered a partnership with Dow Jones Risk and Compliance in April 2023, to incorporate risk and compliance data into its third-party due diligence solution.&nbsp;&nbsp;
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    The company employed 3,000 people, served more than 12,000 customers (including 75% of the Fortune Global 500 companies), and its solutions are backed by 200 patents, as of January 2022. In June 2022, OneTrust 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11018">
      <u>laid off 950 employees</u>
    </a>
     (~25% of its global workforce) across its departments in Atlanta (US), Bengaluru (India), and London (UK), due to worsening global financial crisis and to balance between growth and profitability.
  </p>
  <p>
    OneTrust&rsquo;s 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20390">
      <u>most recent funding</u>
    </a>
     was in July 2023, where it raised USD 150 million in a round led by Insight Partners at a valuation of USD 4.5 billion. The company expects to use the combined funding to scale its platform to meet increasing demand.&nbsp;
  </p>
  <p>
    This funding was raised at a lower valuation, down from the USD 5.1 billion OneTrust recorded during its December 2020 Series C round (USD 300 million), however the company reports it has doubled ARR to USD 400 million, grown customer numbers from 7,500 to over 14,000, and increased headcount from 1,500 to over 2,000 over the same period.
  </p>
</div>


OneTrust

<div>
  <p>
    Privitar provides a platform that enables companies to leverage personal data in their databases for analysis without compromising the end user&rsquo;s safety and privacy. The company&rsquo;s solutions handle and process data compliant with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
  </p>
  <p>
    The company&rsquo;s platform provides de-identification solutions to enable the use of personal data while maintaining data utility. Use cases include business intelligence, insights, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) analysis, etc. The platform also includes features to manage secure data sharing and invisible data watermarks to track data movement throughout the organization.
  </p>
  <p>
    In July 2022, Privitar 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11586?industryIds=34">
      <u>acquired</u>
    </a>
     the UK-based regulatory intelligence platform Kormoon to use the latter&rsquo;s repository of data privacy rules across 46 jurisdictions and automate policies in its own data provisioning platform. The company deemed this repository as a &ldquo;strategic asset&rdquo;&mdash;something that would take it years to build on its own. Kormoon provides a regulatory intelligence platform that analyzes the data usage behavior of companies to determine and automate necessary actions to achieve compliance with privacy regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA. Privitar expects to launch Kormoon&rsquo;s regulatory intelligence to users of Privitar by the end of 2022, although it&rsquo;s unclear whether Kormoon&rsquo;s offerings will continue to be sold as a separate product in the long term.
  </p>
  <p>
    In June 2023, enterprise data management firm Informatica announced 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19444">
      <u>it was in talks to acquire</u>
    </a>
     Privitar.
  </p>
  <p>
    As of November 2020, Privitar employed over 200 staff and has offices in the UK, the US, Singapore, and Poland.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Key customers and partnerships</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    Privitar expanded the relationship it had with HSBC through its Series C fundraise, as HSBC was the first customer for Privitar in 2016. In addition to HSBC, Privitar also has other customer-turned-investors such as Citi.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    Privitar&rsquo;s most recent funding round was in June 2020, where it raised USD 7 million as a Series C investment led by HSBC Venture Capital Coverage Group. With USD 80 million raised in April 2020, its total Series C funding now amounts to USD 87 million. The company intended to use the funding to accelerate product development, hire additional staff, and focus on international expansion.
  </p>
</div>


Privitar

<p><span>CENTRL provides automated risk management and privacy management solutions. Through its Privacy360 platform, the company provides solutions to identify compliance gaps, automate data discovery, manage data subject rights requests, consent management (with a user-facing preference center), carry out impact assessments, third-party risk management, monitoring, and reporting.</span></p>

CENTRL

<p><span>HighSide provides a secure communications platform for organizations, enterprise archiving solutions, data discovery, and supervision tools in compliance with GDPR, CCPA, etc. In 2019, the company announced the acquisition of Hotshot Technologies, a secure team messaging platform.</span></p>

HighSide

<p><span>SecuPI provides a patented platform enabling organizations to achieve compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. The platform achieves this by providing multiple features to protect data such as pseudonymization, consent controls, audit logs, streamlining breach notifications, etc. SecuPI’s platform is deployed in organizations in the banking, insurance, telecommunications, and health industries.</span></p>

SecuPi

Solutions to prevent the tracking and collection of the personal data of end-users.

Encrypted communications and data exchanges for internal and external collaboration around sensitive data.

Tools to provide compliance with privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, and carry out tasks such as data discovery, data governance, consent management, Data Subject Rights (DSR) management, Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) and managing incident response as mandated by these privacy regulations.

Synthetic data generation, data de-identification and anonymization, and other solutions for managing sensitive data.

Storage infrastructure for holding data in compliance with regulations such as GDPR or data residency requirements.

Central management of data access and data privacy and security policies.

Uses AI/ML to automate workflows such as data discovery and data classification

Uses generative AI to provide conversational recommendations to users to remain compliant with privacy regulations

Solutions in this industry hub are offered under a B2B SaaS model

<div>
  <p>
    Zivver is the effortless, smart, secure, digital communications platform, powering the next generation of secure communications. With the hyper acceleration of digital transformation, regulatory reforms and hybrid work, we all need a modern secure communications platform that is highly usable, empowering secure work with maximum effectivenessand minimal disruption. We’ve re-imagined secure communications, pioneering a solution from the ground up – a secure system that is frictionless with unparalleled encryption. We’re empowering people and enterprises, transforming the way people think, act and communicate – mitigating errors and semantically tailoring security levels as required. We call it effortless, smart security.
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    Abnormal Security is an email security company that protects enterprises from targeted email attacks. The platform takes a data science approach to provide everything needed for comprehensive email protection, detection, and response. Abnormal Behavior Technology (ABX) models the identity of both employees and external senders, profilesrelationships, and analyzes email content to stop attacks that lead to account takeover, financial damage, and organizational mistrust. Though one-click, API-based Office 365, and G Suite integration, Abnormal sets up in minutes and does not disrupt email flow.
  </p>
</div>


Abnormal Security

<div>
  <p>
    Menlo Security provides a cloud-based isolation platform that protects organizations from cyberattacks by eliminating the threat of malware from websites, documents, and emails. Menlo Security is trusted by major global businesses, including Fortune 500 companies and financial services institutions, and backed by Vista Equity Partners, NeubergerBerman, General Catalyst, Sutter Hill Ventures, Engineering Capital, Osage University Partners, American Express Ventures, Ericsson Ventures, HSBC, and JP Morgan Chase. Menlo Security was founded in 2012 and headquartered in Mountain View, California.
  </p>
</div>


Menlo Security

<div>
  <p>
    Darktrace's self-learning AI is modeled on the human immune system and used by over 3,500 organizations to protect against threats to the cloud, email, IoT, networks, and industrial systems. This includes insider threat, industrial espionage, IoT compromises, zero-day malware, data loss, supply chain risk, and long-term infrastructurevulnerabilities. Darktrace has over 1,200 employees, 44 offices and headquarters in San Francisco and Cambridge, UK. Every 3 seconds, Darktrace AI fights back against a cyber-threat, preventing it from causing damage.
  </p>
</div>


Darktrace

<div>
  <p>
    Material Security is an email security company that develops data-driven security software to protect an organization's users and data. Material Security started Material after the 2016 hacks changed history and showed everyone everywhere the importance and fragility of our private data. Material Security thinks it takes at least as muchcreativity to protect a technology as it does to invent it. We know that usable security means making people safe and productive. The company believes in common sense and not silver bullets, snake oil, or “next-generation” technobabble. Our goal is resilience, and we build security that works (and works simply). Material Security partnered closely with the world’s best organizations to protect their employees and the ordinary people that depend on them. We work incredibly hard because keeping people safe and helping them collaborate is the best job in the world.
  </p>
</div>


Material Security

<div>
  <p>
    Tessian’s mission is to secure the human layer. Using machine learning technology, Tessian automatically stops data breaches and security threats caused by human error - like data exfiltration, accidental data loss, business email compromise, and phishing attacks - with minimal disruption to employees' workflow. As a result, employees areempowered to do their best work, without security getting in their way. Founded in 2013, Tessian is backed by renowned investors like Sequoia, Accel, March Capital, and Balderton, and has offices in San Francisco and London.
  </p>
</div>


Tessian

Solutions that use AI to detect and block email-based attacks including phishing, business email compromise, malware, impersonation, spam, and data exfiltration.

Solutions that use AI to eliminate email-based attacks caused by inadvertent or malicious acts by internal users from leaving the network.

Solutions that encrypt emails for secure access and collaboration.

Solutions that automatically detect and prevent accidental data loss caused by sending emails to the wrong recipients or with wrong attachments.

Solutions that provide user awareness training on email-based threats.

Solutions that securely store emails in an accessible location for future retrieval.

Uses AI/ML and behavioral analysis to detect suspicious activity in emails

Uses NLP to detect suspicious activity in emails

Zivver

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