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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Rise announced today it invested in AaDya Security, a Detroit-based startup founded in March of 2019 by cybersecurity veteran, Raffaele Mautone. AaDya Security closed a $2.7M seed round and launched Marzo4, an all-in-one cybersecurity platform designed for small and medium-size businesses which has already been adopted by customers who are transitioning to remote work. Prior to founding AaDya, Raffaele held leadership roles at McAfee, FireEye and Duo Security.
“We are excited to welcome AaDya Security as part of Michigan Rise’s portfolio and are looking forward to working with Raffaele and his team” said Jeff Wesley, Executive Director of Michigan Rise. “Cybersecurity, even more so in the new normal, is a vital component for business success which can be beyond the means for small and medium size businesses; AaDya’s products address this gap nicely.”
Michigan Rise is the Pre-Seed Fund administered and supported by the Michigan State University Foundation and Michigan Economic Development Corporation to provide early-stage investment capital and support to Michigan high-tech, high-growth startups.
“We are thrilled to partner with the MSU Foundation and MEDC and appreciate their investment and support in our seed round,” said Raffaele Mautone, Founder & CEO, AaDya Security. “Our partnership will help us establish a statewide reach utilizing MSU’s network as well as MEDC’s access to the small and medium-sized businesses in Michigan.”
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the Marzo4 platform is Judy. Powered by artificial intelligence, Judy functions as a virtual cybersecurity assistant, available to every employee, across all devices, around the clock. Backed by AaDya’s customer success team, and an extensive built-in knowledge base, businesses have access to cybersecurity support that was previously out of their reach. In addition to Judy, Marzo4 includes four essential “pillars” of security that cover the most common threats.
The four pillars of security include:
- Single-sign-on
- Anti-phishing
- Endpoint protection
- Password management
“We are witnessing an exciting period for Michigan cybersecurity startups and AaDya is well positioned to make an impact on the industry. Raffaele and his team have been very intentional in building and launching Marzo4, which has helped close the seed round in a difficult fundraising environment”, said Prem Bodagala, Director at Michigan Rise.
The $2.7M seed round will allow AaDya to add additional team members to support their existing and future customers, as well as continue to build out Marzo4 and enhance Judy with more machine learning features.
