US-based cybersecurity venture capital firm Ten Eleven leads funding, joining existing backers in CSIRO’s Main Sequence and South Australian Venture Capital Fund
Australian open-source intelligence software company, Fivecast, has closed its Series A funding round with almost $20 million (AU$30m) raised to fuel its expansion and service contracts in key markets, including Five Eyes nations, amid a significant rise in the need for data and risk analytics among governments and corporations.
Born out of a collaboration between government agencies and research institutions, Fivecast provides OSINT technology powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning to aid defense, intelligence, police, border security and corporations in keeping society safer. The software enables the targeted collection and risk analysis of publicly available information for specific use cases, such as identifying extremists, terrorists, drug trafficking and organized crime.
This round of funding is led by US-based cybersecurity venture capital firm, Ten Eleven, with additional investment from existing Australian backers, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s (CSIRO) Main Sequence and the South Australian Venture Capital Fund, managed by Artesian.
Fivecast is leveraging the new funding to build out its product portfolio, and drive growth in the Five Eyes community following strong momentum in Australia, a surge in demand in the US, and the establishment of its UK office. It is also targeting the Asia Pacific region and Europe, and is adding further capabilities in adjacent use cases such as corporate security and financial intelligence.
The company is also continuing recruitment of industry professionals, including tradecraft experts, developers, and sales and marketing personnel to its four offices, having recently achieved a milestone of more than 100 employees globally.
This round of investment takes Fivecast’s total funding received to AU$34 million.
Fivecast is an Australian Government Defense Industry Security Program member, maintains UK Cyber Essentials certification, its software products are NIST 800-171 compliant, and its executive, tradecraft, and development teams hold security clearances for Australia, the US and UK. Fivecast is also the first Australian company to be awarded a Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) project with the US Department of Defense.
