Two Austin tech startups combine to raise nearly $70M to continue growth
Two Austin technology companies — security software maker Ontic and insurance startup Steadily — have combined to raise $67 million in funding that they aim to continue their growth and expand their offerings.
Ontic, which launched in 2017 and makes a security data platform designed to help security teams. has raised $40 million to grow its security technology and expand its market reach.
The round was led by JMI Equity, and also had investment from Felicis Ventures, Silverton Partners and Ridge Ventures.
The company said the funding will go toward expanding into new market segments and geographies. Ontic also said that it will use the round to help speed up its product development, establish new partnerships and grow its team.
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Ontic’s platform takes in information from a variety of sources including social media, news aggregators and public records to provide information on any potential and imminent threats, and also collects data that can help with risk assessment. The platform is able to detect, analyze and mitigate potential threats a security team or company might face, and then collects this information in one place, so it’s easier to detect an expansive threat to the system than if the pieces were looked at separately.
Lukas Quanstrom, Ontic’s co-founder and CEO, said the company’s platform is designed to bring together all the security solutions a security team might need, in one environment.
“We are at an inflection point where unmanaged and rising security threats are pushing the boundaries of corporate risk and negatively impacting business continuity,” Quanstrom said in a written statement. “The days of succeeding in protecting organizations with multiple solutions are over.”
The latest round brings Ontic’s funding to date to $58 million. The company is already rapidly expanding its product offerings, having added more than 300 features and product enhancements this year.
The company also acquired Sigma Threat Management Associates in September. Sigma provides threat assessment and violence prevention services to businesses, educational institutes, government agencies and other entities.
Startup Steadily lands $27 million
Insurance technology startup Steadily this week raised $27 million to grow its software service for landlords, the company said this week.
Steadily, which has dual headquarters in Austin and Overland Park, Kansas, came out of stealth mode last year when it announced a $3.8 million funding round. The company was founded by Darren Nix, Datha Santomieri and David Tulig. The founders are insurance industry veterans and landlords, and started Steadily to provide insurance to rental property owners.
The latest funding round brings the company’s total funding to $31 million. It was led by Matrix Partners and Zigg Capital and also had investment from Vesta Ventures, Peak State Ventures, Nine Four Ventures and Next Coast Ventures.
The company’s platform allows landlords to purchase insurance for their rental properties without going through an agent. Steadily said this allows property owners to more efficiently receive quotes by automatically filling data tabs in with information such as property size and year of construction, and then get competitive quotes within minutes.
Steadily said it works with carriers and wholesalers nationwide to offer customers coverage options that are personalized to customer needs and are available for all property types flips, to short-term rentals, to single-family homes and customers can get coverage as early as the next day.
Nix, Steadily’s co-founder and president, said the latest investment will help the company quickly scale to meet growing customer demand.
With the latest funding, the company plans to expand its mobile app with new technology including embedded Internet of Things devices designed to prevent property damage. With the improvement, the company is hoping it will be able to reduce the volume and severity of any future claims made. The company also uesdata analytics to get claims paid faster.
