With $12M funding AI cybersecurity company JASK comes out of stealth

JASK, that claims to help security analysts with artificial intelligence, has emerged from stealth with $12 million Series A funding. JASK uses advanced algorithms to deliver end-to-end network monitoring, surfacing and triaging the most relevant attacks while providing a clear picture of the attack surface. It claims to help organizations and their security analysts to spend their limited resources on only the most dangerous threats. Dell Technologies Capital along with TenEleven Ventures led the investment round, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures and Vertical Venture Partners. Deepak Jeevan Kumar, Managing Director, Dell Technologies Capital; and, Mark Hatfield, Managing Partner at TenEleven Ventures, will join JASK’s board. According to the company, the fresh funding will be used to expand its data science teams, accelerate product development, and focus on machine learning and artificial intelligence research. Cybersecurity veterans Greg Martin and Damian Miller founded the company with the aim of using machine-learning technology to improve the agility and effectiveness of security operations teams, effectively operating as an AI-enabled analyst. “JASK is dedicated to eliminating the inefficiencies within security operations by equipping security analysts with artificial intelligence,” said Greg Martin, co-founder and CEO of JASK.

“We are excited to have both Dell Technologies Capital and TenEleven Ventures lead our Series A round; they have identified cybersecurity as a pressing concern and understand the necessity of machine learning technology and AI in driving innovation. This funding allows us to execute on our vision to modernize security operations, and deliver new levels of agility and capability to security teams.”

JASK states that security operations needs innovation because the gap between attacker capability and what traditional technologies can detect continues to grow for three reasons:

• Organizations are becoming more distributed, which stretches and changes the network border.
• New technologies — mobile computing, internet-connected smart devices, etc. — provide hackers with an increasing number of attack surfaces.
• Hackers continue to develop new forms of attacks at an unrelenting pace. JASK helps close the gap between people and technology by allowing security operations teams to increase the speed with which they can identify and defend against cyberattacks.

“Without AI and machine learning, cybersecurity will continue to be a difficult problem to solve,” said Deepak JeevanKumar, managing director at Dell Technologies Capital.

“JASK shares that vision, and its experienced leadership team is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of cybersecurity innovation. I look forward to working with the company and team as they progress and enable security analysts to become more effective.”

The company claims that security operations teams can deploy JASK’s cloud platform in just hours and realize immediate results. The platform offers increased clarity about organizations’ risks and their implications. By employing machine learning and AI that evolve and automate defenses over time, JASK’s platform allows security operations to act with increasing sophistication the longer JASK is in place. “Modern cyberattacks have evolved rapidly over the years, and security technologies have failed to keep up with the pace of change,” said Mark Hatfield, managing partner at TenEleven Ventures.

“I’m excited to join JASK because I believe Greg Martin and his team understand the cybersecurity landscape and today’s prevalent threats. Defending against today’s hackers requires investments in machine learning technology and artificial intelligence. We believe JASK is offering a compelling approach to modernizing enterprise security operations.”