IP : Garrison Technology Ltd - Announces new $30m funding for pioneering safe web browsing technology

Dawn Capital lead funding round to accelerate UK cyber specialist's development of national security grade technology for commercial use

Garrison, the specialist provider of ultra-secure web browsing technology, today announced it has raised $30m in additional funds from London-based investors.

The company's unique technology enables users to access all content on the web without any risk of exposing their organisation to cyber-attack. Instead of relying on a traditional threat detection-based model, it uses a revolutionary technique to place a gap at the most fundamental electronic level between the internet and the end-user's device. This means that malicious web content never comes into contact with the user or their organisation's IT systems.

Ultra-secure government and military customers have been among the first to benefit from the technology, which is now being adopted by mainstream commercial organisations due to it's affordability and the increasing cyber threat they are facing.

The round was led by Dawn Capital, investors in London-based Mimecast, the NASDAQ-listed email security company that is today valued at $2.1bn, and brings the total raised by Garrison to more than $50m at prevailing exchange rates, all from London-based investors.

'Organisations today recognise the ever-growing threat to their most sensitive data and systems posed simply by allowing employees to browse the web, but until now they've faced an unhappy choice: restrict web access and allow productivity to suffer, or run the risk of exposure to hackers,' said Garrison CEO David Garfield. 'We've designed the world's first truly secure web browser to solve this problem, applying national-security-grade levels of protection to the commercial environment - at an accessible price point - in a way that doesn't destroy the user experience as employees go about their work.'

Garrison was founded in 2014 by industry veterans David Garfield and Henry Harrison, who previously worked together at national-security specialist Detica plc and subsequently established the Cyber Security business unit at BAE Systems plc.

In the past 12 months the business has nearly doubled in headcount to more than 50 staff, appointed Tudor Brown, former president of Arm to the Board and expanded its operations to the US. Today its patented Garrison SAVI®hardware technology is used by employees within global blue chip organisations across the banking, insurance, media, telecoms and legal sectors, as well as by the UK Government.

Garrison's latest funding round also included participation from existing investors IP Group plc, BGF and NM Capital. The new funds will be used to expand Garrison's sales and marketing activities, to grow the company's engineering team and to enhance the company's 'safe web browsing as a service' cloud offering.

'The security industry has long suffered from overblown claims and overinflated prices, without ever ensuring organisations remain truly protected from even some of the most basic threats - this is particularly true of web browsing security,' continued Garfield. 'From day one our mission has been developing practical security tools that actually do what they're supposed to. This funding round marks a key milestone for our business and will help us to transform the day-to-day security of many thousands more organisations worldwide.'

Commenting on the round, Dawn partner Norman Fiore said: 'Garrison is taking a radically different approach to security by moving beyond the previous threat-detection paradigm. We see a significant opportunity for Garrison to bring its military-grade technology to major commercial institutions and fundamentally reduce the threat posed by their employees' everyday web browsing. We're delighted to support the business in the next phase of its growth.'

About Garrison

Garrison's mission is to enable users to click on links and access any content on the web without risking company security.

Its patented Garrison SAVI® hardware technology provides an ultra-secure browser so strong that its capable of protecting employees operating within even the most highly sensitive government environments, whilst also being affordable for mainstream commercial customers. Employees across the globe can access even the riskiest Internet content while keeping sensitive enterprise systems and data fully isolated from that risk.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in the UK, the business now has a team of more than 50 and has expanded its operations to the US. Its technology is used by employees within global blue chip organisations across the banking, insurance, media, telecoms and legal sectors, as well as by the UK Government. Garrison is backed by major technology venture capital investors including Dawn Capital and IP Group.

Find out how Garrison SAVI® works at garrison.com.

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