SCF Ventures Invests in Xage Security as Critical Infrastructure Organizations Take Action to Block Cyberattacks
PALO ALTO, Calif., May 12, 2022 – Critical infrastructure operators are rolling up their sleeves to prevent hacks. Xage, the zero trust security company, today announced that customers in energy, defense, utilities, manufacturing, and logistics have more than doubled in the past year, and two-thirds are accelerating rollouts to address increased cyber risks and meet Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other government mandates before the end of 2022. Customers include top five energy companies globally and top five pipeline operators in the U.S. Additionally, Xage extended its $30M Series B with a $6M funding top-up, bringing total funding to $60M.
Critical infrastructure companies are prime targets of cyberattacks. To improve this sector’s security posture, the federal government issued directives and guidelines that hinge on a zero trust strategy—the modern alternative to perimeter-based security. Recent CISA warnings of Russian state-sponsored threats on critical infrastructure make compliance even more urgent.
“Intensifying cyber risks, combined with government mandates such as TSA’s pipeline regulations, have forced critical infrastructure operators to find practical ways to implement zero trust in real-world operations,” said Duncan Greatwood, CEO of Xage. “Until recently, operators were content to rely on perimeter security and threat detection systems, but the new risks, new mandates, and new cyber technologies have led to a reevaluation and an urgent embrace of zero trust. Now, critical infrastructure operators are implementing zero trust systems that do more than just detect hackers — they block attacks outright. The momentum we’ve seen in our business over the past year is a testament to that change.”
The Xage Fabric is specifically designed to bring a zero trust security model to complex environments. It overlays every machine, app, and data point within an operation to impose granular control over all digital interactions. The need for this patented technology is growing quickly. Xage partners have increased 16x, and the company expects bookings to grow 7x in 2022.
The $6M top-up comes from the Venture arm of SCF Partners, a major investor in energy and critical infrastructure services, and Overture Climate Fund, a venture fund targeting startups at the intersection of government, energy, and climate. The money will be used to expand Xage’s go-to-market operations to service the growing demand from critical infrastructure organizations globally.
“We are excited to partner with Xage to tackle one of the industry’s most difficult and challenging issues: safeguarding critical infrastructure including from outside threats. Xage blocks attacks before the hackers gain traction, preventing devastating scenarios for operations and the people they serve,” said Hossam Elbadawy, Managing Director at SCF Partners. “Xage enables organizations to transition from basic operational technology (OT) security measures to a Zero Trust model, which is an essential step in securing innovation and cyber hardening the energy and critical infrastructure sectors. We look forward to helping them continue their growth in the global energy and infrastructure sectors.”
“Xage is helping utilities, renewable energy plants, and federal agencies quickly adopt a zero trust model to protect critical physical infrastructure in a changing world,” said Shomik Dutta, Overture Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “Xage’s differentiated solutions to securing national assets comes at a time of sky-high cyber threats from foreign adversaries and non-state actors. Overture is pleased to extend world-class government and regulatory expertise to one of the most trusted, fastest growing zero trust cybersecurity firms in the world.”
As Xage grows, so does its team. Sri Sundaralingam, previously at ExtraHop and Symantec, has joined the company as SVP of Marketing—part of the rapid expansion of the Xage team since the company closed its Series B funding round. The latest top-up funding also follows continued recognition for Xage’s technology, most recently the naming of its Zero Trust Remote Access solution as a Gold Winner in the 2022 Stevie Awards. To learn more about Xage’s Series B, see here. For more information on the Xage Fabric and its role in protecting operational, IT, and cloud environments, visit xage.com/solutions.
About Xage
Xage is the first and only zero trust real-world security company. The Xage Fabric accelerates and simplifies the way enterprises secure, manage and transform digital operations across OT, IT, and the cloud. Xage solutions include Identity & Access Management (IAM), remote access, and dynamic data security, all powered by the Xage Fabric.