London, UK – 7^th November 2022 – Worldr, the zero trust architecture for the world’s most popular collaboration and communications platforms, is announcing that it has raised a total of $11 million in Seed funding.

The new funding round was led by Molten Ventures, with continued support from IQ Capital and Playfair Capital. It also saw specialist funds join, such as Pretiosum Ventures, Navigate VC and national security focused MD One Ventures. A multitude of industry specialist angels joined the round too including Alex Walsh (Senior MD, Blackstone), Hussain Baig (ex, Global COO & CIO, HSBC) and John Theroux (ex-Vice Chairman, Bain & Co).

This new capital will enable Worldr to meet the growing demand for its zero trust architecture, which empowers organisations to retain data sovereignty over information shared on communication and collaboration platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Outlook and Slack.

This need for data sovereignty has escalated in response to the rising number of cyberattacks, with companies experiencing 31% more attacks in 2021 compared to the previous year, heightened data localisation requirements amid global sanctions, and an increased focus on compliance and auditing from financial regulators worldwide.

The Worldr architecture offers enterprise-level security and compliance by storing all communications and files within the customer’s own environment. Bypassing a third-party provider’s own servers allows organisations to retain full ownership of their enterprise data, so employees can continue using the platforms they love without the added risk to their data.

Overcoming the billion dollar risk: WhatsApp in the enterprise

The company will use the funding to pursue its mission of creating a software-agnostic architecture that will sit across an organisation’s entire environment to maintain data sovereignty, while prioritising the development of use cases that solve the most pressing challenges organisations face.

This immediate need to overcome the compliance and auditing issues introduced by the use of WhatsApp in regulated industries has driven the launch of Worldr for WhatsApp.

Financial regulators in the US and UK are clamping down on the use of private messaging applications, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issuing a total of  $1.8bn in fines  across 16 US banking institutions. Worldr for WhatsApp enables employees to continue using the messaging app to communicate with customers, teams and stakeholders, while meeting SEC, GDPR and FINRA compliance standards, by retaining messages in a secure storage facility for compliance searches and auditing. It also requires no additional application or download for the end user.

Max Buchan, CEO at Worldr, comments “Data sovereignty has never been more important. The increase in cyberattacks, data localisation requirements, and scrutiny from regulators mean that it is no longer enough to blindly trust that collaboration platforms are keeping business communications secure and compliant. Companies rightfully want control of their data to protect themselves against operational, reputational and regulatory risk. This has not only fuelled demand for our zero trust architecture for Microsoft Teams, but we are also being challenged to apply this solution across an organisation’s entire software environment. This funding will be critical to helping us further this mission and scale to meet the demand.”

Growing to meet market demand

To meet the growing market demand for its zero trust architecture, Worldr will expand its presence in the US with a dedicated office in New York City. This will support the company’s ongoing relationship with Microsoft, as part of the Independent Partner Network. It is also expanding its operations into the Middle East and has started building a dedicated team based in Dubai.

Worldr continues to build out its senior leadership team with industry heavyweights. Most recently, this had included VP Sales (EMEA), Chris Hurst, who joins Worldr from Kaspersky, where he held the role of General Manager UK&I

Leonora Ross-Skinner, investor at Molten Ventures said: “The move towards zero trust and data sovereignty is becoming critical for any entity which deals with sensitive information. Worldr’s unique product set optimises for privacy, security and data protection with seamless integration into existing enterprise software. Crucially, with Worldr, data is controlled by the enterprise itself, marking an incredibly important step forward in data sovereignty.

“Having made several investments in the cyber and privacy space we really look forward to working with Max, his world-class team and our esteemed fellow investors to build a category-leading company with the fundamentals of security at its core.”

For more information, please see Worldr.com.

Product information can be found at:

• Worldr for Microsoft Teams
• Worldr for WhatsApp
• Worldr for Slack

About Worldr

Worldr builds privacy, security and compliance layers for the most popular communication tools in the world. Worldr for Microsoft Teams and Worldr for Slack deliver privacy and security so no third-party can access your data while also enabling data localization. Worldr for WhatsApp lets you continue communicating with customers, employees and stakeholders in a compliant way to avoid hefty fines from the SEC, FINRA, FCA and more. No additional apps needed. Comply with regulations and secure your data, without leaving the platforms you love.