The following article was published on April 15, 2024 in the Orlando Business Journal.
Winter Park-based Govo Venture Partners has led a $2 million seed round for MARS (Monitor Access Respond Secure) Suite Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama — yet another deal for the young venture capital group.
MARS Suite is the developer of a platform that combines cybersecurity IT and network scanning, alerting, detection and response technologies.
President and CEO Mark Dallmeier of MARS Suite said in a prepared statement, “MARS Suite eliminates the need to buy, deploy, operate and maintain multiple cyber … technologies. The solution can be deployed on premise or through a SaaS (software as a service) model.”
Meanwhile, Govo focuses on “early-stage companies for which doing business with governments or navigating government regulations is an important success factor for growth,” said its Managing Partner Rob Panepinto.
Panepinto pointed to congressional testimony by FBI Director Christopher Ray that foreign actors intend to “wreak havoc” on U.S. interests.
“Government regulations such as the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification from the DoD, the recent SEC data breach disclosure rule, the FTC Safeguards Rule, and the latest TSA and FAA Safeguards Rules all require organizations to increase their cybersecurity detection, alerting, protection, and response capabilities and programs,” he told Orlando Business Journal. “MARS Suite was designed to do exactly that. HIPAA also requires cybersecurity and data privacy controls and technologies that MARS Suite can help address.”
The platform was initially designed to address cybersecurity risks and threats within the defense industry and its supply chain, Panepinto said. “These threats are universal and span beyond defense into commercial markets and the private sector.”
The $50 million Govo fund, which launched in January 2023, has made six other investments in startups in the past year. Here are the others:
- March 18: A $3 million seed round for Miami-based Mavi.io Inc., creator of the OnMyWay product which enables users to place delivery orders through their car. Additional investors were Refashiond Ventures, some early Amazon executives, Double SS Group and a fund associated with the Schottenstein family.
- Feb. 21: A $3 million seed round for Palm Gardens-based Medzown Inc. The company quickly connects patients with cancer and other complex diseases and their care team’s information and strategies to evaluate treatment options including clinical trials.
- Dec. 11, 2023: Govo announced it led a $2 million seed round for the Jacksonville company VoxEQ. VoxEQ’s AI tools help prevent fraud in specific cases, like when technology is used to replicate a real person’s voice for nefarious purposes.
- Sept. 5, 2023: It co-led a $5 million seed round for Miami-based Kind Designs. The startup 3D prints living seawalls that mimic coral reefs and mangroves, superior to their concrete counterparts because they encourage biodiversity and reduce shoreline erosion.
- June 21, 2023: Govo announced it was leading the seed round for Jacksonville-based Urban SDK Inc. with a $500,000 investment. The firm’s management platform for government agencies uses data to improve policy, budgeting and operational decisions. Today, the company serves clients across 17 states in public works, transportation organizations, civil engineering and law enforcement, by providing an advanced data analytics solution that converts data to actionable insights.
- March 13, 2023: The firm announced a funding round for an undisclosed amount for Missouri-based Rezilient Health, which provides patients with same-day access to physicians who appear on a screen, accompanied by the in-person presence of a nurse or other healthcare professional who helps facilitate physical aspects of an examination.
