Denmark-based cybersecurity startup Uniqkey has efficiently raised €5.35 million in a brand new funding spherical led by Swedish enterprise capital agency BackingMinds, together with contributions from business veterans and key angel buyers. This contemporary injection of capital is about to propel Uniqkey’s mission of enhancing cybersecurity for European corporations, notably small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), towards the ever-increasing threats of cyber assaults and knowledge theft.
In a world the place digital threats are escalating at an alarming price, the necessity for sturdy cybersecurity measures has by no means been extra important. By 2024, international losses resulting from cybercrime are anticipated to achieve a staggering $9.5 trillion, a pointy rise from $3 trillion in 2015. European corporations are notably susceptible, with German corporations alone shedding €205.9 billion to cyberattacks in 2023. The European Union as an entire faces comparable dangers, having misplaced €268 billion to cybercrime in 2018.
Rising geopolitical tensions, notably between Russia, Ukraine, the US, and China, have additional intensified the strain on the EU to bolster its cybersecurity capabilities. Years of underinvestment in digital infrastructure have left Europe closely reliant on overseas applied sciences, difficult its digital sovereignty. Startups like Uniqkey are actually enjoying a pivotal position in lowering this dependence and securing Europe’s digital future.
Uniqkey’s strategic position
Uniqkey is dedicated to scaling its military-grade cybersecurity answer throughout Europe, with an bold purpose of turning into a market chief in password administration inside three years. The corporate presently protects over 500 SMEs throughout the continent and has skilled 100% year-over-year progress over the previous two years. With the brand new funding, Uniqkey goals to increase its attain to hundreds of corporations, strengthening their defenses towards cyber threats.
Uniqkey’s CEO and Founder, Hakan Yagci, emphasizes the significance of the corporate’s method: “Right now, everyone’s acquired a cell phone. Cellphones have develop into a necessary means we entry our on a regular basis life on-line. That’s precisely why we’ve made the cell phone central to Uniqkey’s safety answer, and a giant a part of why we’re seeing nice demand for our answer. In the identical style as cell apps have modified the way in which we ship cash immediately or entry our financial institution accounts, Uniqkey will change the way in which we entry methods internally inside the firm – simple, quick, and safe.”
Addressing the SME Safety Hole
The European economic system closely depends on its 24.3 million SMEs, which make up 99.8% of all corporations within the area. Nonetheless, with over 12 million of those companies missing a cybersecurity plan, your complete economic system is in danger. The upcoming NIS2 and DORA laws will quickly maintain firm administrators and boards personally accountable for his or her cybersecurity measures, very similar to GDPR has reworked knowledge privateness practices.
Uniqkey’s answer addresses a big vulnerability in firm defenses: poor password administration. With 81% of knowledge breaches ensuing from weak or compromised passwords, Uniqkey’s encrypted password safety offers a strong protection mechanism. The corporate’s answer integrates seamlessly with cell units, requiring a cell app for system logins, akin to native ID apps used for banking throughout Europe.
Funding and Imaginative and prescient
BackingMinds, recognized for investing in “blind spots”—missed areas with vital potential—sees Uniqkey as a standout alternative within the cybersecurity sector. “With lower than 1% of all founders in Cyber safety being immigrants and with solely 2% of all Cyber safety startups coming from the Nordics, Uniqkey stands out as a hidden gem,” says Susanne Najafi, Founding Associate at BackingMinds. Her colleague, Sara Wimmercranz, provides, “After monitoring 500+ cybersecurity startups throughout Europe, it was clear that Uniqkey stood out. We’ve been impressed by Hakan, the corporate’s administration group, their technical experience and are very blissful to assist them of their mission to guard Europe from the rising cyber menace.”
For Uniqkey, this funding is not only about scaling their enterprise—it’s about safeguarding Europe’s digital future. As Simon Cederstråhle Hellstrøm-Melander, CMO of Uniqkey, places it, “This new funding will assist speed up the way in which we scale our know-how to hundreds of corporations throughout Europe within the coming years. Defending SMEs is on the coronary heart of what we do and hopefully we are able to play an vital half in Europe’s rising cyber panorama.”
As Europe braces for a future the place digital safety is paramount, Uniqkey’s imaginative and prescient extends past password administration. The corporate goals to develop into a digital safety guard for workers, enhancing cybersecurity consciousness and defending companies from the within out.
