Reportedly, the UK’s foreign-born population is at 14.5%. Despite its modest size, several studies reveal that 39% of the UK’s 100 fastest-growing companies have an immigrant founder or co-founder. Today the news is about another immigrant-born UK-based startup Klarytee. This UK-based startup’s software platform integrates security directly into data, catering to large organisations handling sensitive information. Now, the early-stage cybersecurity startup has successfully concluded a £700,000 pre-seed funding round, with support from Concept Ventures, an early-stage VC fund. Notable angel investors in this round also included Michael Coates, former Twitter CISO, Evelyn Bourke, former Group CEO of Bupa, the founders of Digital Shadows, Brad Cable, ex-Managing Director of Accenture, and Desigan Chinniah, Board Member of The Tor Project.
Founded in 2021, by serial entrepreneur Dr Nithin Thomas, who worked in the security industry for 11 years, Klarytee provides businesses with encryption and access control which is built into their most sensitive data such as investment banking deal teams, or when leveraging SaaS and public cloud services such as generative AI.
The idea for Klarytee was inspired by Thomas’ belief that productivity is severely hampered by a security philosophy that restricts the users by securing the data within an organisation’s boundaries in an effort to mitigate risk rather than putting controls on the data itself.
How does it work?
By building a new security product category which encrypts fragments of data at source in real time, any data content is protected beyond the enterprise boundary and across multiple workflows whether documents, SaaS applications or even messaging and social media apps. The local Large Language Model (LLM) integrated into Klarytee scans for sensitive information and applies protection by default to ensure sensitive data cannot be exposed to unauthorised access, including cloud AI platforms such as ChatGPT.
As a Microsoft Partner, Klarytee has developed an add-in for Microsoft Word that can be directly integrated into the document workflow to enable one-click encryption, decryption and authentication. Once an authenticated user decrypts the data, it only exists within the memory of their device or application and is permanently erased once that app or device is closed.
Customers are already using Klarytee in cases where organisations need to share sensitive information on a privileged basis, such as investment banking deal teams, or when leveraging SaaS and public cloud services such as generative AI.
Dr Nithin Thomas, founder and CEO of Klarytee says, “Data has become the most valuable asset a company owns, but evolving workplace habits that require greater collaboration and sharing of data are putting enormous pressures on enterprise security. Imagine being able to receive your banking password via WhatsApp or X without having to worry about compliance or security issues. Klarytee is transforming enterprise security architecture by helping teams to be more productive across the platforms that they use every day while embracing the latest technologies from AI to cloud.”
Michael Coates, former CISO of Twitter says, “Klarytee is an essential tool in a CISO’s armory as organizations move to a more data centric security model that focuses on protecting their data over infrastructure beyond the enterprise boundaries. Klarytee’s vision to simplify and consolidate the enterprise security stack by focusing on data instead of infrastructure is incredibly powerful.”
Reece Chowdhry, Founding Partner of Concept Ventures says, “The Klarytee platform has the potential to transform the way enterprises secure their data as they continue to embrace cloud, SaaS and generative AI in the workplace. We’re really excited to be part of Klarytee’s journey to enable organisations to embrace new technologies quickly without compromising security.”
