DefenseStorm Secures $15M in New Financing Round, Including $5M from Community and Mid-Size Bank Venture Fund JAM FINTOP

Commitment reinforces DefenseStorm’s Unique Built for Banking Approach to Cyber Risk Management

ALPHARETTA, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DefenseStorm, a leading provider of cloud-based cyber security, compliance and fraud technology and managed services to financial institutions, recently completed a $15M Series C raise. The round was led by a $5M investment from JAM FINTOP, a venture fund with more than 80 community and mid-size bank limited partners, with the remaining $10M in funds coming from existing investors. This round brings DefenseStorm’s total funding to $67M.

“DefenseStorm and JAM FINTOP are fully aligned in our missions to make the best technology available to community banks. Our comprehensive approach to cyber risk makes it possible for all banks to take the right steps to protect their assets, customers, and reputation,” said Steve Soukup, CEO of DefenseStorm. “Our integrated technology platform is purposefully Built for Banking, meaning everything we do is designed to meet the demanding requirements and regulations placed on banks. Additionally, our team of cyber experts provides the much-needed resources that many banks struggle to hire and retain. It’s a true partnership, with our co-managed, dynamic system ensuring community banks can effectively respond to the constantly evolving world of cyber threats.”

As a big part of the fabric of the American economy, it’s crucial for community banks to remain strong and ready to deal with the real threat of cyber risk. An average community bank faces 90 million cyber events every day. However, most don’t have the technology and human expertise in place to cope. Given their expertise with managing the risk associated with their loan and credit portfolios, they can fall into a trap of believing their cyber practices are good enough.

“We invest in companies that are committed to solving the problems of the financial world, so DefenseStorm is a natural fit for our portfolio and partner banks,” said John Philpott, General Partner at FINTOP Capital. “Many of our community bank partners don’t have the resources to develop and implement technology the way the massive global banks do. As a result, they are actively looking for solutions to improve their competitiveness and financial performance.” Accompanying the round, Philpott will join DefenseStorm’s Board of Directors as an observer.

Working together, JAM FINTOP and DefenseStorm are building a community of trust, so all companies in the financial world can grow and thrive together. This includes bringing together financial institutions, business partners, government agencies and others to share incidents that can make the industry better as a whole. It’s a concerted effort to make communities a better place by putting a stop to threat actors who hold businesses hostage with ransomware or steal an individual’s credit card.

About DefenseStorm

DefenseStorm provides cyber security, compliance and fraud solutions specifically built for banking to achieve and maintain cyber readiness. DefenseStorm GRID is the only co-managed, cloud-based and compliance-automated platform of its kind, operating as a technology platform and as a service supported by experts in FI security and compliance. It watches everything on a bank or credit union’s network and matches it to defined policies for real time, complete and proactive cyber exposure readiness, keeping security and fraud teams smart and executives accountable. DefenseStorm links GRID activities directly into control frameworks and self-assessments with automated evidence collection to easily demonstrate adherence to industry and regulatory standards. Compliance evidence can also be linked to your own unique policies and internal controls. A Threat Ready Active Compliance (TRAC) Team augments a bank or credit union’s internal team to protect business continuity and skills availability while also ensuring cost-effective coverage and management. www.DefenseStorm.com

About JAM FINTOP

JAM FINTOP brings together bank experts and seasoned fintech entrepreneurs to invest in companies changing the way financial institutions and their customers move, track, and interact with money. JAM has a 27-year history investing in public and private community banks, and FINTOP Capital is a leading fintech investor with over 140 years of collective experience.

JAM FINTOP manages two venture capital funds. JAM FINTOP Banktech held a closing in April 2021 with $150 million of committed capital and has fourteen portfolio companies. JAM FINTOP Blockchain has $164 million of signed subscriptions, three portfolio companies and will hold a final close in June. For more information visit www.jamfintop.com.

Disclaimer

JAM FINTOP is a brand name. When referring to investment funds JAM FINTOP refers to the joint venture between Jacobs Asset Management (JAM) and Nested Rails (d/b/a FINTOP Capital) as co-investment managers of those investment funds. JAM Special Opportunity Ventures, an affiliate of JAM, is a member of the general partnerships of JAM FINTOP investment funds.

The JAM FINTOP Network refers to the underlying limited partners in the JAM FINTOP investment funds, as well as entities that have joined the Network on a fee-based basis. Neither Jacobs Asset Management, JAM Special Opportunity Ventures nor FINTOP Capital provide investment advisory services to the JAM FINTOP Network. JAM and JSOV are not affiliated with FINTOP Capital.