Symantec Ventures forms to boost cybersecurity startups
VIDEO: Symantec's new venture arm will tap into cybersecurity startups
Symantec has announced the formation of a new venture arm, Symantec Ventures, to help cybersecurity startups make the transition from ideas to profits.
On Thursday, the antivirus software provider said Symantec Ventures will not only provide funding to startups, but it will aim to "help the startup community reduce expenses and accelerate time to market."
Entrepreneurs tapped by the new venture capital arm will be given not only cash but access to Symantec technology including the Integrated Cyber Defense Platform for enterprises and the Digital Safety Platform for consumers, depending on the focus of the startup.
The cybersecurity firm has also promised startups access to threat intelligence data, which can be used for product testing, validation, machine learning algorithm training, and AI system creation.
"This kind of data can be expensive and sometimes impossible for a startup to obtain access," Symantec notes.
In June last year, Symantec acquired Blue Coat for $4.6 billion, which also holds a minority stake in Appthority. The new venture arm is based upon Symantec's previous investment in mobile security firm Appthority, and this will provide a model for venture members to follow.
See also: Symantec revokes faulty security certificates
"We are launching Symantec Ventures to catalyze innovation in the cybersecurity space," said Symantec CEO Greg Clark. "We can help startups by allowing them to build on our extensible Integrated Cyber Defense Platform. For example, a new algorithmic approach to anomaly detection can be built on top of our endpoint platform or run on top of our network and cloud security drive train."
"This strives to enable Symantec's more than 385,000 enterprise customers [...] to tap into the rich ecosystem of ideas in the marketplace and allow entrepreneurs to dramatically reduce their time to market," the executive added.
In November last year, Symantec launched Endpoint Protection 14, a security solution which is designed to harness artificial intelligence to protect clients.
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