NAB just led a $10 million raise for a US cybersecurity startup

Digital Shadows co-founder and CEO Alastair Paterson

Big four bank NAB is backing a digital risk protection startup it’s already engaged with as a customer, leading a $10 million round for US-based Digital Shadows through its investment fund, NAB Ventures, alongside existing investors, including Octopus Ventures.

Melissa Widner, Managing Director, NAB Ventures and David Fairman, Chief Enterprise Security Officer at NAB, will join the Digital Shadows board as observers.

The funds will go towards global expansion and product development, ramping up its 24/7 global coverage of security threats via an expanded Asia Pacific team.

Fairman said the bank saw the value in the cybersecurity service provides as a customer with its foresight into a range of online threats.

“Digital risk protection is an emerging security category and we have already seen the benefits of adding their capabilities to our security portfolio,” he said.

Digital Shadows CEO, and co-founder Alastair Paterson launched the business in 2011, having previously served as international propositions manager at BAE Systems Detica alongside co-founder James Chappell.

The pair now have offices in San Francisco, Dallas, London and Singapore.

Paterson said demand for digital risk protection cs showing significant growth in the Asia Pacific market.

“It’s clear that an investment from a regional specialist in NAB Ventures is exactly what is needed to drive further growth in this massive market and to expand the delivery of our SearchLight service to customers around the world,” he said.

The raise will go help build the customer base for SearchLight, which minimises digital risk by detecting data loss, securing a company’s online brand, and reducing the attack surface.