We are thrilled to announce that we led Cavelo’s C$5M seed round, a Kitchener-based cybersecurity company that offers Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (“CAASM”) and data security to businesses of all sizes and channel partners, including IT services vendors, managed security service providers (MSSPs) and compliance consultants.
James Mignacca and Scott Hamilton founded Cavelo. Both repeat cybersecurity founders, James and Scott, have gathered deep insights within the MSP market through their prior startup, RootSecure, which they successfully exited to Arctic Wolf. In addition to RootSecure, the duo played a critical role in scaling other MSPs and channel-focused companies such as Sandvine.
Cavelo sits at the intersection of several trends that we are excited about:
Cybersecurity is an every company problem
Cybersecurity breaches are on the rise and have been headline topics over the last few years. Recent breaches, like MGM and Clorox, are just the tip of the iceberg and join a long list of companies such as Target, Solarwinds, and Equifax. While large enterprise breaches are the ones reported on, small and mid-size companies are not immune to such attacks. Cybersecurity is no longer a big company problem; it is an every company problem driven by trends such as transition to the cloud, remote work, ease of access to hacking tools on the dark web, and rise in sensitive data. Furthermore, there is a shortage of security talent and expertise, especially within small and middle-market enterprises. As a result, these companies often rely on MSPs for their security and compliance needs.
MSPs are underserved by existing cybersecurity vendors
Existing CAASM and Data Security tools focus on larger enterprises, do not integrate well with an MSP’s tech stack, often require custom integrations, and do not offer multi-tenancy. James experienced these pain points firsthand when he ran an MSP. He co-founded Cavelo to democratize cybersecurity tools for MSPs and, in turn, serve the growing security needs of middle-market businesses.
Regulations are on the rise
Regulations are catching up to the rise in cybersecurity incidents especially in industries, such as financial services and healthcare – SEC cybersecurity disclosure rules, HIPAA, and GDPR, are just a few examples. Cavelo helps improve cybersecurity and data hygiene, which is increasingly necessary for compliance and cyber insurance.
In addition to a strong market opportunity and founder market fit, we are also excited to be working alongside seasoned executives and founders such as Marc Morin (former CEO & Co-Founder of Auvik Networks and former CTO & Co-Founder of Sandvine) and Eldon Sprickerhoff (Co-Founder of eSentire). They both bring years of experience scaling start-ups and have a deep understanding of cybersecurity. We are equally thrilled to be working with existing investors such as Graphite Ventures.
Cybersecurity and compliance are key investment areas for Inovia. Cavelo joins Inovia’s growing list of cybersecurity portfolio companies, such as Flare, Certn, and OneTrust. We are always on the lookout for category defining cybersecurity companies and excited to meet founders. Please reach us at [email protected] and [email protected].