Beauceron Security Inc., a Fredericton company that assesses clients’ cybersecurity risks, has raised more than $500,000 in equity funding after signing up 11 clients.

The company announced Monday that it has raised money from Mariner Partners and its East Valley Ventures investment affiliate, and received a $150,000 investment from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

Launched two years ago by staff at the University of New Brunswick, Beauceron Security Inc. has developed a platform for measuring, managing and monitoring cyber risk based on people, process, culture and technology. The company’s traction and funding are the latest evidence of the robust cybersecurity community that has grown up in New Brunswick and around UNB.

“We are thrilled to launch New Brunswick’s newest fully funded cybersecurity firm and extraordinarily grateful for the tremendous support we’ve received from the university, our investors and our early adopter clients,” said CEO David Shipley in a statement.

Fredericton has grown into a cybersecurity hub, thanks largely to the success of another company that grew out of UNB, Q1 Labs. IBM bought Q1 Labs in 2011, reportedly for more than $600 million, and has since then headquartered its cybersecurity R&D team in the New Brunswick capital.  More recently, UNB has created the Canadian Institute for Cybersecurity, which opened earlier this year with more than $4.5 million in funding, and the New Brunswick has named cybersecurity as a key component in its economic development plans.

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Beauceron has attracted 11 clients in higher education, information technology, manufacturing and government in Canada and the United States. Clients include the University of New Brunswick, the Schulich School of Business at York University, Bulletproof Solutions, Gaming Labs International and the City of Fredericton.

Beauceron is also partnering with Bulletproof, Mariner, and Accreon Inc., which are helping to bring the Beauceron technology to customers throughout North America.

“Being an early adopter of Beauceron gives the City of Fredericton access to innovative world-class cybersecurity technology as soon as it is available,” said Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien. “There’s a tremendous benefit to being a city with a strong ecosystem of technology entrepreneurship and advanced cybersecurity research, development and commercialization.”

Added NBIF President and Chief Executive Calvin Milbury: “We’re excited to invest in a startup with such huge growth potential, founded by seasoned industry experts who understand the market. What impressed us the most was the interest they’ve received from customers already.”

Beauceron began in the fall of 2015 when Shipley, along with UNB tech staffers Benjamin Steeves and Sean McDougall, started to explore a new approach to measuring, managing and monitoring cyber risk as a personal project. Together with co-founders Bob Corson and Ian MacMillan, they began building their innovative, web-based cyber risk technology.

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In December 2016, Beauceron was accepted into the inaugural cohort of Energia Ventures, a UNB-based, startup accelerator in the J. Herbert Smith Technology Management and Entrepreneurship Centre.

“Energia helps startup firms in energy, clean tech, smart grid and cybersecurity,” said Dhirendra Shukla, chair of TME and professor of engineering at UNB. “We help with initial funding, mentorship, refining plans and developing product solutions to prepare startups for further investment. Beauceron is the first of Energia’s initial cohort to close a first round of investment and we’re proud of the success they’ve seen so far.”