Israeli cybersecurity firm CyCognito raises $18 million

[November 19, 2019]  TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli cybersecurity firm CyCognito said on Tuesday it raised $18 million in an early-stage funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Sorenson Ventures and Microsoft <MSFT.O> Chairman John Thompson also participated in the financing, which followed a $5 million seed funding round.

CyCognito is using the funding to evolve its software-as-a- service platform, which is in use by dozens of customers, including financial, healthcare and hospitality organizations.

The platform identifies and eliminates an organization's security blind spots, the company said.

It employs 50 workers at its office in Palo Alto and its research and development center in Israel. The company expects to recruit 60 new workers in the coming year, mostly in Israel.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Steven Scheer)

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