Stealth mobile security startup Bluebox raises $18M

The company welcomes Tenaya Capital partner Brian Melton to board of directors

In the BYOD era, it’s kind of amazing more companies haven’t been hacked. Like, OF COURSE Target compromised the credit cards and personal information of 110 million people. With Joe-Schmoe Executive Assistant intern using his personal device to schedule meetings and play Candy Crush, how did this not happen sooner?!

So naturally, mobile security companies are on the rise, and one such company—stealth mobile security startup Bluebox Security—announced Monday that it has raised $18 million in a Series B round led by Tenaya Capital, with help from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Sun Microsystems Co-founder Andreas Bechtolsheim, and SV Angel. Tenaya Capital’s Brian Melton will join Bluebox’s board of directors.

The company, which takes its name from an old phone hacking device that was once used to intercept phone calls, previously raised a $9.5 million Series A round, bringing its total raised to $27.5 million.

The company is emerging at a time when mobile security is more jeopardized than ever before. On average, employees are working on their mobile devices outside of the corporate network security system some 20% of the time. A Forrester survey indicates that in India, at least 85% of employees use phone and tablet applications as well as Web-based services for both personal and work-related activities.

And, of course, Android is the target of 79% of mobile malware attacks, due in part to the fact that 44% of Android users are still using the old Gingerbread version, which is riddled with security flaws. Considering the fact that Android is the dominant mobile OS in the U.S., that should sound some alarm bells.

"Existing mobile security solutions are modeled on an outdated perspective of mobile use that does not meet current demand," said Brian Melton, in a statement. "As companies give employees more access to corporate information via mobile devices, they need a solution that meets the needs of both the business and employees. The strong endorsement across Bluebox's beta customers validates that Bluebox has developed an innovative mobile security solution that enterprises want."

The company says it plans to use the new capital to scale sales and marketing.

"The BYOD movement has ushered in a new era -- enterprises no longer control or manage the devices and services employees bring into the organization -- fundamentally changing the way organizations must address security," said Scott Weiss of Andreessen Horowitz, in a statement.

Bluebox will come up against some well-established competition. Mobile security company Lookout has been around since 2007 and has raised $131 million altogether, including a $55 million Series E round last October.