Tokyo-based automotive IoT cybersecurity company, Trillium, has announced that it has closed a Series A financing round of an undisclosed amount with investments by lead investor Global Brain, Mizuho Capital and DBJ Capital.
The company designs and provides custom, multi-layer adaptive cyber-security systems, focused in the near-term on automotive needs, which is also applicable to the entire IoT spectrum.
According to David M Uze, CEO, Trillium, the funding will be used for accelerating development and deployment of Automotive IoT cyber-security platforms, SecureCAR and SecureIoT. The company also plans to expand in-vehicle implementation and testing of cyber-security retrofits on current-model connected vehicles. It will expand business operations in Silicon Valley and establish a satellite penetration testing and engineering hub in Michigan, USA.
“With funding now in place, we are set to move quickly to market with a robust and urgently needed solution. Hundreds of articles on autonomous driving appear in the media every day, but almost none mention the elephant in the room: automakers do not yet have a reliable defense against cyber-threats. Period. One serious hack could immediately halt progress in automated driving. But we have the remedy,” said Uze.
Trillium claims that its solution caters to three key automobile cyber-threat domains with a software-based approach that is compatible with any architecture or operating system at 1/10th the cost of competing solutions.
Uze sates that the solution has moved to the real-world testing phase and has partnered with a Japanese Super GT racing team and a maker of automotive semiconductors. He also claims that the company is in discussions with several major automakers and tier-one suppliers.
“Where competitors offer a single firewall, we provide multi-layered defense-in-depth. Since defense must continually evolve, our infrastructure will deliver Security as a Service (SaaS) via real-time-update platforms that automakers or insurers can on-sell to car owners. We plan beta deployment in early 2018 and full commercialization by 2020. Our software-based approach is not only the lowest-cost solution on the horizon, for manufacturers the SaaS model shifts it from fixed cost to revenue generator,” added Uze.
Post investment, Trillium is also reportedly rolling out a comprehensive, subscription-based security solution for all segments of the transportation industry. The company will consider executing a Series B investment round in the near future.