Entrepreneurs Al Yang and Adar Arnon met at Harvard Business School and quickly realized they had a common interest: cybersecurity.
“We are witnessing an evolving business climate that has brought with it an unprecedented need for improved security processes,” Arnon told TechCrunch. “The importance of security has grown exponentially… [it’s] non-negotiable for tech buyers.”
Yang and Arnon decided to turn that interest into something more, so they started SafeBase, which was accepted into Y Combinator’s accelerator program during the pandemic.
SafeBase announced Tuesday that it has raised $33 million in a Series B round led by Touring Capital. The company helps customers complete security questionnaires, which are assessments that organizations typically begin before purchasing new software. It’s a matter of governance and compliance.
Security questionnaires can be laborious and take weeks to months for teams to complete for more complex pieces of software. But Arnon argues that SafeBase can save time through automation — and artificial intelligence.
SafeBase uses artificial intelligence models “specifically trained in security documentation use cases” to read, interpret security information and questions, and then automatically answer security questionnaires. “[Our platform] takes the pain out of the cumbersome security review process by empowering security, governance, risk and compliance and revenue teams,” he said.
Image Credits: SafeBase
Being the AI cynic that I am, I asked Arnon about the accuracy of these models. AI is a notorious liar, after all. He claimed it is superior thanks to a “mixture of large and small language models” that provide “greater response coverage [and].” Take it as you will.
Beyond custom models, SafeBase provides an engine that allows a company to assign “rule-based behavior” for customer access, as well as dashboards that show information and analytics about the company’s security posture.
SafeBase is not the only vendor offering tools to automate security questionnaires and reviews. Competitors include Conveyor, which recently raised $12.5 million. Kintent? and Quilt, which claims it can also automate due diligence reviews in addition to security assessments.
Arnon didn’t seem too worried. Perhaps that’s because of SafeBase’s client roster of 700 companies, which includes Palantir, LinkedIn, Asana and Instacart.
“SafeBase has seen tremendous growth over the past two years,” said Arnon. “Customers love the product and adoption continues to accelerate. The company benefits from increased visibility across its supplier network as more and more high-volume customers launch trust centers that replace the need for tens of thousands of manual security checks.”
SafeBase, which is based in San Francisco, has 55 employees.
The company’s Series B was led by strategic investor Zoom Ventures (Zoom’s venture business arm), NEA, Y Combinator, Comcast Ventures and Cerca Partners as well as angels including former Salesforce chief trust officer Jim Alkove. It brings SafeBase’s total to over $50 million. Arnon says a significant portion will be allocated to team expansion.
