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Prague, May 01, 2024 – With users increasingly favoring mobile applications over computers, attackers focus on mobile devices. However, company executives often view security costs as a "necessary evil" because of their indirect impact on revenues. Czech startup Talsec aims to change this perspective by offering specialized tools for app developers that protect against hackers, conceal sensitive information, and detect malicious software. Originating as a spin-off from the Zlin-based technology company MONET+, Talsec, after two years of organic growth, has received an investment exceeding 1 million euros in the first round from London-based Dig Ventures and Czech DEPO Ventures. This funding is intended to accelerate its penetration into the global market and support further development.
Talsec acts as a security agent within mobile apps, already protecting over a thousand applications from companies, including insurance companies like Allianz, fintech firms like BrasilCard, by.U, Novücard, and governments like the Ministry of Transport of Egypt. Its popularity among developers striving to safeguard their mobile apps against major threats and adhere to best security practices is boosted by a freemium B2B business model and straightforward implementation.
"We decided to enter the market with a product that offers protection for mobile-first businesses, with an initial focus on fintechs. We want Talsec, with its freemium toolkit, to become standard for developers needing to ensure the security of their applications and their users. This year, we are on track to multiply our audience and revenue and significantly expand awareness of our products within the developer community," states Sergiy Yakymchuk, founder and CEO of Talsec. This native Ukrainian has over fifteen years of experience in security software and ten years in managing security products at companies like Gemalto and Thales.
The Talsec team was initially created as part of a mobile app development team of Czech security solutions provider MONET+. The team managed to leverage MONET+'s support and many years of experience in creating high-end mobile solutions for the financial and government sectors. Since 2023, Talsec has been rapidly growing as a fully autonomous community-driven company with a well-balanced, cost-efficient offer for Mobile-first teams.
The value proposition of Talsec is shaped to help app issuers spare many months of effort and a lot of money to comply with security regulations and apply best practices to pass substantial mobile penetration testing.
“Among many R&D projects within MONET+, we have, at some point, recognized a great fit between the tremendous global potential of Talsec as a solution and Sergiy Yakymchuk as a leader who has a vision and unlimited energy to fulfill it. From that moment it was clear that Talsec needed to get its own space, freedom, and resources to scale the growth and go beyond the organic growth of everyday business. We are certain that with continuing support from MONET+ and Dig Ventures and DEPO Ventures as new investors, the team has everything it needs to become a leader on the global mobile cybersecurity market,” says Jan Vavrys, CEO of MONET+.
The startup has already received several awards and recognitions. Google invited the company to the acceleration program among 17 global companies using artificial intelligence to transform cybersecurity. For its AppiCrypt project, Talsec received the prestigious Ernst & Young ESO Cyber Space Innovation award, and it was selected in the Top 50 by 4YFN at the Mobile World Congress.
"The Czech Republic has given rise to multiple community-centric, category-defining software companies, from Jetbrains to Avast, and now Talsec too. The strength of the fundamental computer science training in local universities, as well as the prevalence of several cyber security companies, means that companies such as Talsec emerge with unfair advantages and have a chance to redefine entire software categories. This is our third investment in the country following Deepnote and Rossum, we are excited to continue to support the next generation of enterprise innovators here” says Rytis Vitkauskas, partner at Dig Ventures, an early enterprise-focused venture capital fund started by Ross Mason, founder of Mulesoft.
"Fraud prevention in mobile applications is an important and growing market opportunity. The technology Talsec employs effectively addresses this challenge. Unlike its competitors, Talsec boasts a highly scalable distribution model, enhancing its chances of success. Its initial product is developing rapidly and showing remarkable results. Since we began following Talsec last July, their growth has doubled," says Michal Ciffra, partner at DEPO Ventures.
Protection Across Mobile Platforms
Talsec employs multi-layered protection to safeguard applications and APIs from threats like reverse engineering, app cloning, device rooting, and other types of attacks through application and device integrity checks. It also monitors the application's runtime environment in real-time, providing risk assessments, auditing, and data analysis. Malware detection is based on machine learning.
Initially developed for the financial sector's high security standards, Talsec now offers several packages as annual subscriptions. The highlight is "App Safety as a Service," which includes a suite of developer tools (SDK), application and API protection, penetration testing, monitoring services, and a user security set.
Talsec provides comprehensive protection for mobile applications across various development platforms, such as Android, iOS, and cross-platform frameworks such as React, Cordova, or Google's Flutter platform. The latter is increasingly popular among app developers, generally considered an optimal solution for neobanks and fintech companies. According to Google, more than a million published applications are based on this platform.
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