Danish startup Uniqkey has secured a new investment of €5.35 million in funding from Swedish VC BackingMinds, which invested in NitroVolt and SNERPA Power. In addition, industry veterans – Jesper Zerlang (ex-CEO of Logpoint), Lars Ankjer, Otto Krabbe, Rolf Bladt, and several well-known angels and key employees, also participated in the round.
Investment details
The investment will be used to scale its cyber security solution across Europe and make companies more resilient to cyber attacks and data theft.
“At BackingMinds, we invest in what we call blind spots – overlooked areas with great potential. With less than 1% of all founders in Cyber security being immigrants and with only 2% of all Cyber security startups coming from the Nordics, Uniqkey stands out as a hidden gem,” stated Susanne Najafi, Founding Partner at BackingMinds.
“After tracking 500+ cybersecurity startups across Europe, it was clear that Uniqkey stood out. We have been impressed by Hakan, the company’s management team, their technical expertise and are very happy to support them in their mission to protect Europe from the growing cyber threat,” added Sara Wimmercranz, Founding Partner at BackingMinds.
What challenge does it tackle?
In 2024, global cybercrime losses are expected to hit $9.5 trillion, up from $3 trillion in 2015. German companies alone lost €205.9 billion in 2023. The European Union faces major risks, especially among SMEs, where 50% lack a cybersecurity plan. New regulations like NIS2 and DORA will hold boards accountable for IT security.
Currently, companies underestimate the risk of cyberattacks that can effectively wipe out their existence. Employees leave larger data traces than ever before due to increased digitisation and due to modern remote working trend. This makes companies vulnerable to cyberattacks and data theft. This is where Uniqkey comes into the picture with its military-grade encryption offers a robust solution, empowering employees to protect against cyber threats.
What does the company do?
Hakan Yagci, a serial founder, who previously established OrderYoyo that went public in 2021, started Uniqkey. It simplifies employee security while empowering companies with enhanced control over their cloud infrastructure, access security, and employee management. The company aims to become a leader in the European market for password management with thousands of customers already within a 3-year horizon.
The Danish cybersecurity startup combats the most significant threats to company infrastructure by safeguarding critical systems and company credentials with state-of-the-art encryption. It also offers unique insights and a comprehensive view of IT infrastructure, employee access, and security scores, making it a valuable tool for IT teams to monitor security policies and assess the impact of awareness campaigns with confidence.
“Today, everybody’s got a mobile phone. Mobile phones have become an essential way we access our everyday life online. That is exactly why we’ve made the mobile phone central to Uniqkey’s security solution, and a big part of why we’re seeing great demand for our solution. In the same fashion as mobile apps have changed the way we send money instantly or access our bank accounts, Uniqkey will change the way we access systems internally within the company – easy, fast and secure,” stated Hakan Yagci, CEO & Founder of Uniqkey.
“This new funding will help accelerate the way we scale our technology to thousands of companies across Europe in the coming years. Protecting SMEs is at the heart of what we do and hopefully we can play an important part in Europe’s rising cyber landscape,” stated Simon Cederstråhle Hellstrøm-Melander, CMO of Uniqkey.
