perigee snares $1.5m seed to secure hvac and other infrastructure
The past few months have been significant for Mollie Breen, CEO and founder of Perigee. The company’s founder, previously an employee of the NSA, competed in the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield in September and recently finalized her initial seed funding round on Thanksgiving, securing $1.5 million to facilitate company development.
Outsiders Fund spearheaded the investment, with additional participation from Westport, Contour Venture Partners, BBG Ventures, Innospark Ventures, and several private investors.
Perigee focuses on safeguarding crucial company assets, such as HVAC systems and elevators, which connect to the network but are often overlooked by standard network security measures. Breen explains that the company’s core benefit lies in uniting network security with operational security, an area frequently neglected due to the separation between these two teams. Perigee delivers a suite of analytical tools that provide security teams with insight into this potentially vulnerable area.
As Breen detailed during our conversation in September surrounding her Battlefield participation, the system establishes a baseline of typical activity from operational systems as they interact with the network, gathering data on standard system and user access patterns. It can then identify unusual occurrences and halt potentially malicious actions, possibly indicating hacking attempts, before they impact the network.
Breen acknowledges the challenges faced by female founders in securing funding and expressed her desire to publicize this funding round to inspire other women considering entrepreneurship, demonstrating that success is achievable despite the difficulties.
Her plans include expanding the team to approximately six individuals within the next year. Breen emphasizes the importance of building a diverse workforce, starting with her investors and extending to considerations of gender, race, and age. She believes that prioritizing diversity from the outset, particularly with early hires, is essential and actively seeks out diverse candidates.
“I dedicate significant effort to direct outreach, especially regarding recruitment, because traditional job postings rely on inbound applications, which don’t guarantee diversity. By proactively contacting potential candidates and engaging in conversations, I’ve found a way to ensure I’m connecting with individuals from a variety of backgrounds,” she stated.
Looking forward to 2021, she is evaluating the optimal balance between office-based and remote work, leaning towards a primarily remote model with occasional in-person interactions. “Currently, I’m focused on finding the best way to foster strong, authentic connections built on trust, while acknowledging the industry’s shift towards remote work and the need for companies to adapt to this evolving landscape in a post-2020 world,” she explained.