Cloud Security , Governance & Risk Management , Privacy

Why Privacy, Device Management Are Better VC Bets Than Cloud

Ten Eleven Ventures' Alex Doll sees privacy and device management as the hottest areas for security startups and cloud companies as "coming from behind."

See Also: Alleviating Compliance Pain Points in the Cloud Era

Advancements in privacy-enhanced technologies have allowed for searchable encryption, meaning that entire databases can be locked down while still pulling out data set characteristics in a way that maintains privacy. Doll also wants to bring greater management capabilities to devices with Linux clients, browser-based clients or no clients at all in verticals such as healthcare, where many devices aren't using Windows (see: The New Investment Frontier: Defending AI Models, Algorithms).

"Cloud is not a game for new venture investing," Doll said. "The incumbents are strong, and the venture investing that was needed to pick winners happened in the 2017 to 2020 era. It's not really the time to be doing new early-stage cloud companies. I think they're going to be coming from behind. It'd have to be something pretty special."

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Doll also discussed:

• How funding for cybersecurity startups in H1 2023 compares to previous years;
• How cyber M&A deal volume and size have changed in the economic downturn;
• Advice for early-stage firms looking to raise more money in the down economy.

Doll in 2002 co-founded PGP Corp., which combined the vision for a new security company with the secure email standard OpenPGP. He was an executive team member as it pioneered the encryption and data protection marketplaces and exited after the company was sold to Symantec in 2010. After PGP, Doll continued his involvement with security companies as an angel investor, independent director and security deal team consultant to private equity firm KKR. His experience of simultaneously working on venture and growth opportunities within the cybersecurity sector helped form Ten Eleven's unique investment strategy.