Automox closes on $9 million Series A

BOULDER — Automox Inc., a tech firm specializing in helping companies maintain their cyber hygiene, has closed on a $9.3 million Series A round.

Automox has a software-as-a-service system that helps both large enterprise and

small businesses keep their software updates and patches up-to-date automatically. By keeping those updates up-to-date — what Automox considers good cyber hygiene — companies can be proactive rather than reactive in their cybersecurity and can reduce cyber threats by upward of 80 percent.

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The funds raised in the Series A were led by new investor TechOperators with participation from CRV, BlueNote Ventures and Tom Noonan, along with other previous investors.

The funding will be used to grow the company, Automox CEO Jay Prassl told BizWest, namely doubling its team over the next year.

“We plan to expand our teams on the engineering side and push more into sales and marketing to generate more demand for the product,” Prassl told BizWest.

As to why Automox decided to expand its engineering team, Prassl said it was because Automox is trying to provide a solution that is more technologically complex than what competitors might provide.

“The complexity of the automox platform means we cover Windows, Mac and Linux systems,” he said. “We deliver the same functionality across all platforms, which is a bigger lift than those companies only focused on solutions on Mac, Windows or a third-party. The technical lift is larger.”

Automox serves customers of all sizes, from NASA to Dollar Shave Club to Intuit to Yale University.

“The key takeaway is this is not a problem that is isolated to large companies alone,” Prassl said. “It’s an issue for every size company and it’s most prevalent for those that do not have the resources. A lot of smaller companies leave it up to their employees to run auto-updates, but hope is not a security strategy and does not ensure a strong security foundation. Automox removes the guesswork from automating elements of cyber hygiene by giving managers a next-gen toolset that automates all these processes and fundamentals.”

Earlier this year, Automox closed on a $2 million round, with several investors who participated in the Series A.

In addition to increased funds, Prassl said a big feature of the Series A is the guidance and expertise that comes to the table in the form of Automox’s investors. Noonan, who is joining the company’s board, has three other security companies under his belt. Tech Operators and CRV also bring expertise in running security and SaaS businesses.

“When you pull the camera back, this is about a lot more than money, in my mind,” Prassl said. “It’s about who are the people coming to the table to help from a financial standpoint but also to grow the Automox platform and to provide validation. They’ve all seen this problem in the industry not for a year or a month but for 20 years. They understand the problem has been around for a long time and if it’s not elegantly solved than things will just get more complex.”