Rev1 Ventures Invests in Wiretap
Leading Venture Fund Announces Largest Single Investment from Innovative Corporate-Backed Fund
Columbus, OH—June 6, 2017—Today Rev1 Ventures, the leading seed-stage venture fund and startup studio, announced it has participated in the $4.9M funding round for Wiretap, a leading innovator of security solutions for Enterprise Social Networks and collaboration tools. This investment marks Rev1’s largest single investment from the Rev1 Fund I, the ground-breaking corporate-backed fund supported by Nationwide, The Ohio State University, Cardinal Health and other top Columbus companies and organizations.
Draper Triangle Ventures led the funding round with Ohio Innovation Fund, with support from JumpStart and individual investors. Wiretap will leverage the financing to build its team and continue evolving its platform.
Wiretap eliminates the barriers to enterprise collaboration by closing the security gaps inherent in today’s ubiquitous Enterprise Social Networks (ESNs) and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Yammer®, Workplace by Facebook and Slack.
“This funding is another significant milestone for Rev1, as well as Columbus, as it showcases the power of connecting corporate investors and partners to disruptive products to help startups scale,” said Tom Walker, CEO of Rev1 Ventures. “The region’s entrepreneurs have gained access and early buy-in from top corporations that, for many startups, are serving as first customers. It is a proven and powerful model for driving startup success.”
Columbus startup founders often cite the region’s connectivity as the main reason for founding and growing their companies here. Ohio is home to more than 50 Fortune 1000 companies and boasts more than 200 higher education institutions – 15 of which are in Columbus.
“I turned down an offer to lead the Workplace by Facebook team in Silicon Valley because I knew Wiretap was primed to take off and knew Columbus was the place to do it,” said Jeff Schumann, CEO and Co-founder of Wiretap. “My theory was right as proved by this round and our tremendous momentum. Our trajectory is powered by a great support system in the region, with partners who will support the company beyond this funding through customer introductions, hiring and more.”
“Wiretap has the team, the product, the customers, and the vision for tremendous success and we’re pleased to participate in this round to help them continue to execute,” added Ryan Helon, EVP of Investment Funds for Rev1 Ventures.
Columbus has become the fastest-growing region for startup activity, and Rev1 is the most active seed fund investor in the Great Lakes Region. Rev1’s portfolio companies generated $86M in revenue and created and retained more than 1,014 jobs in the last year alone. Rev1’s portfolio companies raised nearly two-thirds of the $65M in capital secured by Columbus region startups in 2016.
About Rev1 Ventures
Rev1 is a venture fund that helps entrepreneurs build great companies. Combining investment capital with a unique blend of services through our startup studio, we propel innovation for startups and corporate innovation teams. Our seasoned, data-driven team helps lay the foundation for scalable growth with the skills to evolve a product, sell to customers, and build the right team. Named a top VC investor in the Great Lakes Region, Rev1 manages a continuum of financial support from corporate and community partners, as well as the Ohio Third Frontier. Rev1 was named the Most Active VC in Ohio in 2017 by CB Insights. For more information, visit https://www.rev1ventures.com.
About Wiretap
Wiretap empowers organizations to safely grow their Enterprise Social Networks and collaboration tools such as Microsoft Yammer®, Workplace by Facebook and Slack by securing against intellectual property and confidential data leaks, insider threats, HR policy violations, compliance issues and external sharing risks. As a critical part of an organization’s overall security fabric, Wiretap encourages and facilitates safe collaboration by monitoring files and conversations, as well as blocking material or communication that could place a company at risk. Wiretap is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio — a city ranked #1 for scaling startups1 and #8 in U.S. cities for tech job growth2. For more information visit www.wiretap.com and follow @WiretapSecurity.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Aimée Eichelberger
Press (at) rev1ventures (dot) com
