Hakimo Raises $4 mln to Bring Cyber and Physical Together

Hakimo, a computed software startup based in California, has raised $4 million in seed funding to improve security by merging cyber and physical security as employees return to the workplace.

The oversubscribed round was led by Neotribe Ventures, with participation from defy.vc, Firebolt Ventures, and prominent angel investors such as Ameet Patel, Prasanna Srikhanta, and Stanford professor Sachin Katt. The funding will allow the startup to expand its operations and accelerate the development of its technology.

Hakimo was founded by Joseph and Sagar Honnungar, two Stanford-trained engineers, earlier in 2021 as employees all around the globe started returning to their workplaces after vaccination efforts made it possible. With companies needing to accommodate the changing conditions caused by less organized traffic and flexible schedules, security concerns were on the rise. Joseph Honnungar, who serves as Hakimo’s CEO, said in this regard:

“Employees need to recognize that the flow of people through the building is different now and that they play a role in its security. Learning that someone snuck in behind you today and seeing that data tied to your badge can trigger a higher level of vigilance as you badge in tomorrow.”

The technology developed by the startup aggregates data from multiple systems (both digital and physical), which is later analyzed using Artificial intelligence, data science, and computer vision to identify potential threats. Historically, the data generated by security systems have proven troublesome for security teams to navigate, resulting in low efficiency and high costs. Joseph referred to this issue by stating:

“Cybersecurity systems used to generate massive numbers of events that a human analyst could not handle. Systems like SIEM and Security Orchestration and Response (SOAR) emerged to help manage and respond to those alerts and incidents. Physical security has now reached a point where it requires the same types of tools.”

While incidents like tailgating are a major source of security breaches in offices around the world, constant monitoring to detect such events is not a real possibility for most workplaces. As such, the systems developed by Hakimo cannot only identify tampering attempts on security checkpoints but also by evaluating behavior using computer vision, email alerts, and gamification tools.