This company is no longer in business. Investors can get details about any potential exits or failures here.
Trustwire
Secure, easy-to-use file exchange and storage solution: a more secure Dropbox.
Overview
Raised: $116,112
Total Commitments ($USD)
Wefunder
12/26/2018
04/11/2019
$100
Equity - Preferred
RegCF
$2.78
$5,000,000
Business Services, Software, & Applications
Gaithersburg, Maryland
Raise History
| Offering Name | Close Date | Platform | Valuation | Total Raised | Security Type | Status | Reg Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trustwire | 04/11/2019 | Wefunder | $5,000,000 | $116,112 | Equity - Preferred | Funded | RegCF |
No prior online funding rounds.
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Problem
Every second, about 71 data records are lost or stolen due to security breaches. In the first half of 2018 alone, about 3 billion records were compromised, an increase of 72% over the first half of 2017. Between the Equifax breach, the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook breach, and many more, 2018 has been victim to several cybersecurity attacks, setting the scene for a demographic that is incredibly concerned for the safety of their personal information online.
According to the Ping Identity 2018 Consumer Survey: Attitudes and Behavior in a Post-Breach Era, more than 1 in 5 people have been victims of data breaches. And of those, 34% have experienced financial loss as a result. The Pew Research Center claims that half of Americans feel their personal information is less secure than it was just 5 years ago.
Not only are Americans and people worldwide concerned for the safety of their information and data, but there are limited solutions to this issue. File sharing services such as Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive have access to user’s contents, making these platforms not as secure. Apps like Dropbox are problematic as well; rather than saving files to a device, programs like Dropbox automatically sync with the cloud wherever users connect to WiFi.
While this does enable easy access from anywhere, these tools also make hacking and ransomware a bigger threat. Cloud devices automatically share confidential data on unsecured connections as well as sharing large amounts of data with the provider, eroding any sense of privacy and security.
In addition to not being able to completely trust existing file sharing options, 25% of users admit they often use passwords that are less secure than they would prefer, simply for convenience and ease – increasing the chance for data to be compromised.
Solution
In an age where the security of information is at more of a risk of being compromised than ever, the need for a product that enables businesses and individuals to exchange and store confidential files securely is of high demand.
Trustwire provides a secure and easy way for consumers to share f iles, eliminating the need for knowledge of complicated strong encryption tools and addressing the concerns of existing file sharing platforms and emails.
While the market for a product like this does seem incredibly niche – with Trustwire targeting security, law, healthcare, and other professional firms – the reality is that the enterprise content management market is a burgeoning field growing at a rapid speed. Enterprise content management relates to the technology used to capture, manage, store, and deliver content related to organizational processes. Globally, this market size is expected to reach about $94 billion by 2025, registering a CAGR of 15.6% during the forecast period. With the soaring need for security of confidential data, cloud-based ECM is anticipated to command over 60% of the overall market revenue by 2025.
In a market this attractive, the competition is bound to be fierce and competitors in addition to the already existing less-secure file sharing options could make success more challenging for Trustwire.
ShareFile is one such competitor, encrypting files shared through their platform with the same security used by many banks and e-commerce sites such as Amazon. ShareFile establishes a private connection and data traveling between these endpoints can only be decrypted by the intended recipients by using unique decryption keys.
Like Trustwire, each user is given unique codes to access files and even ShareFile employees are not able to gain access. However, unlike Trustwire, ShareFile is more expensive and seems to place more emphasis on enterprise sales, rather than smaller lawyers, and doctor offices who are looking for an easy to use, lightweight, cost affordable solution. We think Trustwire is better positioned to win over this portion of the market. Acquired by Citrix Systems in 2012 for $54 million, the parent company is currently valued at $14 billion.
Another possible competitor is Virtru, protecting data itself to allow employees and individuals to safely share information while maintaining complete control. Most recently, in May of 2018, Virtru raised $37 million in Series B financing led by Iconiq Capital, providing more capital to help offer their solutions to more markets and improve their encryption software.
While Virtru prioritizes user experience and promotes trust to enable file sharing, its strategy is focused on embedding privacy in frequently used applications rather than providing a file sharing platform like Trustwire. By having a physical location to store files rather than simply providing a solution for data exchange, Trustwire sets themselves up as the more worthy competitor.
Why We Like it
1: Simple and intuitive: Despite utilizing encryption tools that protect user information, Trustwire is still incredibly simple to use and accessible from anywhere through their web-based portal.
Without the need for training, download, or installation, not only is Trustwire one of the most sensible platforms to use for secure file sharing for a variety of businesses and professions, but the web-based solution also gives users the freedom to exchange and access their confidential files from anywhere with or without their own device.
2: Small and medium-sized business appeal: Not only is Trustwire attempting to target consumers and small businesses as well as medium to large corporations, but their entire business model appeals to these segments.
ECM enables small and medium-sized organization to reduce their data storage costs by allowing them to store data in a central repository. By providing these businesses with improved operational efficiency and enhanced realizability and support, Trustwire sets themselves up as an incredibly attractive product
3: Success to date: Trustwire’s subscription model enables users to trial their services for free first before opting to pay a fee for additional benefits, enabling consumers to develop a trust for their product and understand their form of secure sharing.
The freemium model also worked exceedingly well to help Dropbox to grow in the early days. This model seems to be working, since Trustwire has already reached over 5K users just 6 months after their launch.
4: Opportunity for acquisition: While Trustwire’s primary goal is to become highly profitable with their cybersecurity solution, there is an opportunity for acquisition by cybersecurity providers and cloud storage providers like Dropbox and Google Drive, with 29% and 31% of the market share when it comes to file sharing, respectively.
With Google as an M&A giant, and Dropbox potentially searching for a new acquisition following their 2017 acquisition of Verst, publishing platform – existing competitors may find Trustwire’s tools beneficial to their platform and offering, giving Trustwire an exit option in an incredibly crowded space that may be difficult to be profitable in over the long term.
Founder
Hugh Hall, CEO of Trustwire, is an experienced computer scientist, a successful entrepreneur, and has been working in cyber security since 2002. Alongside him stands a team well versed in UI/UX, systems technology, development, and information security.
While Trustwire’s team is composed of experienced entrepreneurs, none of them have ever been involved in bringing a cybersecurity operation product to market. However, their industry backgrounds, capabilities and passions are sure to make up for whatever they may lack.
Rating
Deal To Watch
Data privacy and trust are top-of-mind as companies undergo digital transformations and users become more concerned with the safety of their files. Data sharing with suppliers and customers accelerates business opportunities but exposes data to new risks.
Even though Trustwire is in its early stages in a highly competitive market with better funded and more established companies, their intuitive user experience, transparent management, experienced team, and innovative solution make them an incredibly attractive investment.
With a $5M pre-money valuation, Trustwire is valued incredibly reasonably when compared to established, successful competitors like Dropbox and Google Drive. By being in this high security portion of the market, Trustwire gains a strong differentiating factor that can help them win when it comes to business professionals looking for a solution for their personal data needs. With already 5,000 users, Trustwire shows great potential of being a scalable B2B product with definite traction.
Founder Profile
Founder Profile: The Secure Dropbox
When Dropbox landed it’s IPO last year it was met with fanfare and excitement. The cloud document storage space has been growing leaps and bounds for years and continues to progress forward.
However, in this day-and-age, with major headlines around data leaks and privacy breaches, the need for truly secure data storage infrastructure is needed more than ever. This is what makes the Trustwire business so interesting.
We sat down with this Deal To Watch Founder & CEO, Hugh Hall of Trustwire to discuss how he and his team are bringing a new layer of security to the cloud document storage market.