Sookasa wants to help companies use popular cloud services like Dropbox and Gmail while at the same time transparently encrypting sensitive data to ensure that companies don’t run afoul with regulations like HIPAA and FERPA. The company today announced that it has raised a $5 million Series A round led by Accel Partners with participation from existing investors First Round Capital, SV Angel and other angel investors.
It’s no secret that many IT organizations struggle with ensuring compliance while at the same time offering their users access to tools like Dropbox, Box and Gmail on multiple devices. Sookasa says it offers businesses “a self-service turnkey encryption and compliance solution that enables their employees to safely use their favorite mobile devices and cloud services.” The service ensures that files are always encrypted, no matter what device they are on and even when they are shared externally.
Sookasa was founded in 2012 by father and son team Israel and Asaf Cidon. Asaf is now Sookasa’s CEO. The two were concerned that the files they shared were spread among multiple cloud services and devices and that there was no central way to manage them.
“Unlike legacy security companies that protect infrastructure like networks or endpoints, Sookasa is laser-focused on protecting the content itself while preserving the user experience,” said Asaf. “Our Cloud Compliance Service is architected to operate across any cloud service, computer or mobile device.”
The company’s first product, which is also launching today, is the Sookasa Cloud Compliance Service, which allows companies to control and audit files across cloud services, users and devices and encrypt them transparently.
With this new funding round, Sameer Gandhi from Accel Partners joins Sookasa’s board of directors. In addition, Kirk Bowman, who formerly held executive positions at VMware and EqualLogic, joins as an independent board member.