Buguard, the Cairo-based offensive security and dark web monitoring company, has raised US$500,000 in seed funding to power its expansion into the GCC region.
Founded by Youssef Mohamed in 2021, Buguard offers offensive security services including penetration testing and vulnerability assessment, phishing simulation, compromise assessment, threat intelligence and red teaming.
Since it commenced operations, the startup has served many of Egypt’s leading businesses in their respective fields, including Paymob, Fawry, EFG-Hermes, Halan, Lucky, Thndr, MaxAB, Eksab, Rabbit Mart, amongst others. It has also developed a global client base spanning Saudi Arabia, the United States, France, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
Buguard’s US$500,000 seed round was led by A15, a MENA venture capital firm, with participation from angel investors. It is the first external funding the startup has taken on, having bootstrapped thus far, and will be used to grow its team, and expand into the GCC region this year.
Meanwhile, Buguard has launched Dark Atlas, its new SaaS product for dark web monitoring and account takeover prevention.
“We are delighted to announce our fund raise, and I thank A15 for its great support. The world of dark web cyber threats is very real, dynamic and growing. Any company can be a victim and one must be prepared. Our team at Buguard is hand-picked and includes some of the world’s leading security researchers and engineers, coupled with a subscription-based, SaaS product – Dark Atlas – that goes broader and deeper than existing alternative solutions,” said Mohamed.
“We are already globally-facing with clients across the world, but our immediate strategy is to grow even stronger in the GCC. We look forward to expanding into Saudi Arabia during 2023 and using our proceeds to help fulfil our significant growth potential.”
Karim Beshara, general partner at A15, said his firm had been impressed by the domain expertise exhibited by Buguard’s security researchers and engineers, and was “very excited” to partner with the startup.
“Threats posed by ever evolving cybercriminal tactics are a serious threat to businesses, both large and small. It is becoming increasingly important to take proactive measures to protect against these threats. Buguard does just that through its security services and Dark Atlas,” he said.