Cybersecurity specialist UpGuard has raised $17 million in new funding from a group of investors that included a “strategic investment” from Australian insurance giant, IAG. The company, which made its FinDEVr debut last fall in San Francisco as ScriptRock, will use the capital to help grow its CSTAR cybersecurity preparedness-assessment solution, as well as double staff to 120 by early next year. UpGuard co-CEO and cofounder Mike Baukes said that “by providing the tools needed to build resilient information systems, make strategic decisions with real data in real time, as well as obtain cyber insurance should the worst case scenario occur, we equip businesses to start fighting fire with fire.”

Alan Sharp-Paul, cofounder and co-CEO of UpGuard, during his presentation, “Integrity in the Age of DevOps,” at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

The Series B was led by new investor Pelion Venture Partners and existing investor Square Peg Capital. All of UpGuard’s other current investors participated in the round as well, which takes the company’s total capital to $27 million. Speaking about the investment, Pelion Ventures Partner Chris Cooper said, “UpGuard’s ability to assess both external and internal risk factors is a huge step forward in understanding the complete security posture of a business.” He also praised CSTAR’s “technical rigor and simplicity” when it comes to helping companies to better manage data-breach risks.

CSTAR provides enterprises with a comprehensive and actionable cybersecurity preparedness score. Similar to the way financial risk is aggregated into credit scores for consumers, CSTAR gives businesses such as ADP, Citrix, and Rackspace a single, wholistic risk metric that still enables them to drill down to the server or device level to spot and remedy potential vulnerabilities. UpGuard believes CSTAR can serve as the basis for a cyber-risk benchmark for businesses and consumers alike, and will explore new opportunities with insurance companies, such as with IAG, to help them better assess their customer’s cyber risks. The company also provides a free external assessment tool for websites.

Founded in Australia and headquartered in San Francisco, UpGuard presented “Integrity in the Age of DevOps” at FinDEVr San Francisco 2015.

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