Czech venture capital firm Credo Ventures will invest some €1 million into Prague-based Cognitive Security, a provider of state-of-the-art network security solutions for both corporate and small and medium-size business markets (SMB). The funding comes from Credo’s Stage I Fund, which is directed toward early stage technology companies in the region, primarily from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Credo reached the €11 million first closing of the fund in October 2010 and was already searching out optimum hi-tech investment opportunities. The aim is for the fund to reach €20 million this year.
Besides the obviously growing need and innovation in the sector, Credo’s affinity for tech investments was made all the stronger because some investors in the fund, such as computer security company Avast founders Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš, are operating in the sector as well.
Cognitive Security uses a technology developed by the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in cooperation with the US Army and US Air Force that specializes in detecting zero-day attacks, polymorphic viruses and custom build network intrusions by means of analysis of network traffic statistics. The new investment will be directed primarily into marketing and sales of the company’s flagship product, CognitiveOne.
“We are keen to support Cognitive Security’s founders, Martin Rehák and Michal Pěchouček, and an early investor, Certicon, represented by Vladimir Marik, to become an important global player in the network security space,” Credo Ventures partner Vladislav Jež said in a press release.
“Cyber attacks are increasing every day and the risk to both large enterprises and SMBs necessitates a comprehensive approach to securing data and networks, and we believe Cognitive offers an attractive solution for this problem,” he added.
