UK IoT cyber-security company Qomodo has raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding.

Founded by a team of ex-BAE Systems and Nato cyber-security experts who participated in a Techstars 2023 cohort, Qomodo has pioneered the development of systems for extended IoT (XIoT) cyber security, focused on the detection and prevention of threats at the host level within embedded systems. XIoT encompasses devices that connect physical systems to the internet, extending beyond traditional servers and laptops.

Nation-states such as Russia, China and North Korea are engaged in cyber-operations targeting critical infrastructure across the globe. These often leverage vulnerabilities in extended IoT environments, exemplified by high-profile cyber attacks such as the NotPetya incident, which caused over $1.2bn in damages globally.

With increasing reliance on IoT technologies in sectors vital for national security and economic stability, nation-state actors and cyber criminals are aiming to exploit the rapid technological integration and existing security gaps within the IoT.

Qomodo’s IoT observability and threat prevention software agents are designed to counter these threats by integrating machine-learning technologies to detect and block intrusions proactively, thereby safeguarding critical infrastructure without impacting system performance on the host IoT device. Qomodo can see into what were once black-box devices, and profile their behaviour and vulnerabilities, going beyond common network-based detection products.

“The acceleration in the adoption of IoT devices, coupled with insufficient security measures, is creating huge risk,” said Toby Wilmington, CEO of Qomodo. “There has been a 400% increase in malware targeting IoT and attacks are costing the UK alone £1bn a year. Our intelligence-led approach and robust, resource-efficient software agents are essential weapons in ensuring the security and resilience of IoT ecosystems against the backdrop of international cyber warfare.”

The capital raised in this round should let Qomodo (www.qomodo.io) enhance its platform-agnostic software agents and support the company’s outreach in Europe and the USA, enabling direct engagement with customers and helping refine the product’s market fit.

The round was led by Expeditions Fund with participation from Amadeus Capital Partners, Auriga Cyber Ventures, Nio Advisors, McNally Capital, Ventures Together and previous investor Techstars.

“Since we first met Toby, we were immediately excited about the opportunity to partner with Qomodo,” said Miko Firlej, founding partner at Expeditions Fund. “The founding team has not only an excellent pedigree from companies like Recorded Future, BAE or Leonardo but they are also IoT domain experts and they know each other well. We believe the company has built a differentiated product by offering an embedded software agent tailored specifically for the manufacturers of IoT devices coupled with the honeypot network, which allows to expand intelligence data related to IoT hacking attempts.”

James Baker, investment manager at Amadeus Capital Partners, added: “Organisations’ cyber-physical systems now extend across all operations, from industrial, transport, energy, healthcare to enterprise environments, and governments are regulating to increase protection, such as the UK’s Product Security & Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) regime. We are pleased to be backing Qomodo’s first-of-its-kind threat prevention system for these increasingly complex but essential systems to modern life.”

And Geoffroy Rossett, managing partner at Auriga Partners, said: “In the fast-paced movement towards the full integration of the industrial and enterprise IoT, we found Qomodo’s simple, holistic and modular approach and value proposition to be particularly relevant. We were also impressed by the quality of the founding team and by the vision and leadership of Toby, its CEO.”