Cybersecurity startup CheckRecipient has raised $2.7m in a round co-led by Accel Partners and LocalGlobe.
Winton Ventures, Amadeus Capital and Crane also participated in the round.
The startup, which participated in Tech City News’ flagship Elevator Pitch LIVE competition, was set up by three engineering graduates from Imperial College.
Founded in 2013, the company has developed an email security platform which leverages machine learning to ensure that sensitive or confidential material cannot be sent to the wrong recipient.
Tim Sadler, CEO of CheckRecipient, commented on the news: “It’s human nature to fear the shark when we go swimming, but it’s crossing the road, an activity we do daily almost without thinking, that is more likely to kill you.
“There’s currently an obsession with the detection of malicious insider and external attackers, but the most common data security incidents reported to the ICO are all linked to human error.
“CheckRecipient allows organisations to demonstrate diligence to both clients and regulators by managing the risk of misaddressed emails. It also helps firms to protect staff from mistakes, which could cost them their career, in highly regulated, reputation driven sectors such as law and finance,” added the entrepreneur.
The firm scans historical email data in order to understand conventional usage patterns and behaviours in companies’ email systems. It then uses machine learning to identify anomalies and give users the opportunity to correct issues before sending.
A statement said the firm is already working with “multinational companies across the legal, healthcare and financial services sectors” and is looking to launch in the US shortly.
Luciana Lixandru, partner at Accel, said: “CheckRecipient is developing an extremely effective product that resolves one of the corporate world’s biggest problems. As the technology is developed, there are a number of additional possible applications which will turn CheckRecipient into a gold-standard email and data security product.”
Ophelia Brown, partner at LocalGlobe, added: “For any company dealing with sensitive information, particularly in the professional services industries such as finance and the legal sector, CheckRecipient provides clear and immediate value. CheckRecipient is quickly proving itself to be the next generation email security suite that no company can afford to do without.”
CheckRecipient will use it to double its size to 24 employees, with a focus on hiring business development and engineering expertise.