Rapidly expanding personal privacy market set to boom Switzerland-based Silent Circle, a specialist in the mobile privacy market, has announced $50 million in series C funding. Led by Santander Bank, the company will use the growth capital to expand product development, customer service, business development and marketing activities while eliminating its debt.
Silent Circle's Enterprise Privacy Platform (EPP) is a suite of privacy applications, services and devices. Deployed in a range of end markets, the solution is available through an expanding group of strategic partners worldwide.
"We all run our work and personal lives from our mobile devices," said Antony Barker, a Managing Director with Santander Bank. "That makes secure mobile communications an absolute must-have for a rapidly expanding number of companies, governments and individuals."
Cybersecurity investor Bob Ackerman, who joined the Silent Circle board as part of the recent investment round, says: "Silent Circle is the thought leader in the space -- delivering field-proven technology, products and services that are secure, cost-effective, quick to deploy and easy to manage. I'm excited to be part of this team."
According to ABI Research, the mobile privacy market is expected to double by 2021. Notably, secure mobile revenues will exceed $19bn in that same timeframe, with more than 20% of that generated by secure voice and secure messaging.
"Today's announcement is a key milestone as we continue to set the bar for what's required in secure mobile communications," said Silent Circle Co-founder and Chairman Mike Janke. "Our growth in new customers, coupled with expanding engagements with our existing enterprise and government clients, underscores the pressing need for our Enterprise Privacy Platform and the business-critical value proposition it embodies."
Deployed around the world, Silent Circle's EPP includes:
- Software: Silent Phone application providing secure calling, conferencing, messaging, file sharing and video, available in minutes via a user download, with new enterprise features and functionality being added each month
- Devices: Blackphone (above)- a secure smartphone, based on an enhanced Android operating system
- Encrypted Calling Plans: Silent World providing secure calling to land and mobile lines of non-subscribers in more than 100 locations around the world