Security software startup Trustpage raises $5 million VC round

Software security developer Trustpage, which operates out of the Bamboo co-working space in downtown Royal Oak, announced the fundraising effort Tuesday morning, although the round closed this past summer, according to the company’s top executive.

The company’s news release states that Trustpage software “Acts like a nutrition label for (a) company’s security, highlighting its tools to manage crucial areas like compliance, data security, privacy, reliability, infrastructure, and threat management.”

More than 5,300 companies have been mapped by Trustpage’s AI-powered security scanner and added to its network, and around 300 companies have claimed their profiles, the company said.

“It’s really about streamlining the security review process,” Chase Lee, the company’s founder and CEO, told Crain’s in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

Lee said the goal of the technology is to act as a “glass window” that sits in front of a company’s security system, and offer transparency to clients about the cybersecurity measures it has in place.

With cybersecurity crimes reportedly forecast to cost companies globally as much as $10.5 trillion over the next few years, Lee said businesses increasingly are looking at an array of options to best manage their data.

The Trustpage fundraise was led by Bonfire Ventures based in the Los Angeles area, as well as by Gilbert’s Detroit Venture Partners as well as Ludlow Ventures, also in Detroit. Entrée Capital, Basement Fund and GTMfund also joined the round.

“Trustpage takes a product-led approach to security that helps companies turn what is often considered a liability into a competitive advantage,” Brett Queener, partner at Bonfire Ventures and a former Salesforce executive, said in the release. “Software companies must earn the trust of their customers to scale, and Trustpage eliminates outdated processes through AI-powered collaboration that makes security reviews faster and easier for everyone.”

Lee declined to share a valuation at which the seed capital was raised, but said Trustpage is on track to hit $1 million in annual recurring revenue by next year.

Trustpage currently stands at 14 employees, with half based in Michigan and the rest working remotely around the country. The company expects to be around 20 employees by the early part of 2022, with the venture capital largess being used to help bolster the company’s sales and marketing team, as well as further develop its machine-learning technology.