Detroit Cybersecurity Startup Releases Platform with Virtual Assistant

A Detroit cybersecurity startup has closed a $2.7 million seed round and has now launched a cybersecurity platform designed for small- and medium-sized businesses.
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Marzo4 platform
AaDya Security has closed a $2.7 million seed round and launched Marzo4, its cybersecurity platform. // Photo courtesy of AaDya Security

A Detroit cybersecurity startup has closed a $2.7 million seed round and has now launched a cybersecurity platform designed for small- and medium-sized businesses.

AaDya Security’s cybersecurity solution, Marzo4, has been adopted by customers who are transitioning to remote work. The company was founded by Raffaele Mautone in March 2019. Prior to that, Mautone held leadership roles at McAfee, FireEye, and Duo Security.

“I am thrilled that Firebrand Ventures, 645 Ventures, and Next Coast Ventures have joined us in our mission to change the way businesses address today’s cybersecurity threats,” says Mautone.

“What’s unique about the way we built Marzo4 is that it has everything a business needs in a single platform that’s easy to manage and implement without compromising on security, and at a fraction of the cost. The reality for most businesses is their internal IT, and especially cybersecurity resources, are limited or non-existent, so managing multiple solutions that offer more than they need is neither efficient nor cost-effective.”

Marzo4 includes four pillars of security that cover the most common threats: single-sign-on, anti-phishing, endpoint protection, and password management.

The platform also offers Judy, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual cybersecurity assistant that is available to every employee across all devices. Judy is backed by AaDya’s customer success team and has a built-in knowledge base.

“We have seen first-hand how difficult it is for small and medium-sized businesses to protect themselves from constant cyberattacks,” says Chris Marks, managing partner at Firebrand Ventures. “We are excited to partner with Raffaele and the AaDya team as they solve this problem and keep businesses safe with a simple and affordable solution. We are also thrilled to be investing in the great city of Detroit.”

The funds will allow AaDya to add team members to support existing and future customers and continue to build out Marzo4 and enhance Judy with more machine learning features.

“When we first met Raffaele in 2019, he laid out the product vision for what is now Marzo4 word by word,” says Aleisso Fanelli, director of engineering at 645 Ventures. “Seeing it go from a napkin drawing to a fully functioning product has been very exciting. We have been working closely with the AaDya team since then, and we’re very excited to see them transform what security products for small and medium-sized businesses look like.”