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LANSING, Mich. — Michigan-based BitLyft Cybersecurity announced the close of its first seed round of funding. The $1 million infusion will expand the company’s mission to deliver automated and optimized cybersecurity solutions to small and midsize organizations.
After its founding in 2016, BitLyft quickly pivoted from a focus on managed security services to software when it developed BitLyft AIR, an automation and optimization platform designed to reduce labor intensive tasks, optimize SIEM (security information and event management), and provide more immediate value to clients. BitLyft is now primed to build on that platform to fully realize the transition to a software company with a service-first approach.
“This is a different type of seed funding in that we have already built a successful business model based on providing tangible value to our clients,” explained BitLyft founder and CEO Jason Miller. “We’re not just hoping to develop a product that market research tells us people will buy—they’re already buying it, using it, and giving us real-time feedback on how to shape the roadmap moving forward.”
BitLyft will leverage the funds to make the next generation of their AIR platform more accessible and valuable to a market that is both resource-constrained and under increasing pressure to demonstrate a strong security posture to customers and stakeholders. By providing greater visibility and insight into their entire digital world, the platform will also allow management to be better equipped to make more informed business decisions, not just as they relate to IT and security, but across their entire organization.
“Automating and optimizing key security tasks gives organizations access to tools they can implement without the need for large security or IT teams,” said Miller. “This isn’t just software with support, it’s service-focused technology that gives companies the ability to respond quickly to today’s threats.”
BitLyft recently partnered with Detroit-based AaDya Security to make the AIR platform available as part of the company’s all-in-one cybersecurity platform. This provides AaDya customers with enterprise-grade threat detection and automated remediation, in addition to the platform’s five other essential pillars of security.
Both companies have received seed funding and support from Red Cedar Ventures and/or Michigan Rise, a wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Michigan State University Foundation, which focuses on technologies and companies arising from Michigan State University’s extraordinary faculty, researchers, and students as well as the Michigan ecosystem. Dedicated to serving the common good in uncommon ways, the MSU Foundation’s investments bring real solutions to many of today’s challenges.
Leading this round for BitLyft is NY Technology Capital Partners III, followed by Michigan Angel Fund, and Gibbs City Investments.
“Most companies do not have the internal resources or expertise to keep up with the ever-increasing risk of cyber threats,” said Toby Brzoznowski, founder and managing partner of Ann Arbor-based Gibbs City Investments. “I’m excited to advise and invest in BitLyft because I believe their approach and solution is exactly what IT organizations need right now — easy-to-implement and continuously updated SaaS security software combined with an expert support team that is educated on the latest threats and attack schemes.”
