Israeli startup LayerX has joined the list of companies scoring investor interest in the tricky enterprise browser market.
LayerX, based in Tel Aviv, came out of the shadows Monday with $7.5 million in seed funding and ambitious plans to build technology to turn any web browser into a protected and manageable workspace.
The early-stage funding round was led by Glilot Capital Partners, alongside Int3, FinSec Innovation Lab by Mastercard, Enel X, GuideStar, and Kmehin ventures.
Despite creeping doubts about product category and size of the market, LayerX joins several startups that recently banked massive funding rounds (some at ‘unicorn’ valuations) to work on enterprise browser products.
Competing companies include Talon Cyber Security, a startup that raised $143 million to build a security-themed enterprise browser based on Chromium; Island, a Texas company that secured $225 million in venture capital funding to work on enterprise browsing software; and Red Access, an Israeli firm promising technology “to secure every web session across any browser, app and device” for corporate customers.
[ READ: Secure Enterprise Browser Startup Talon Raises $100 Million ]
LayerX is positioning itself as a direct alternative to rivals Talon and Island with a platform that protects the entire browser ecosystem without requiring your users to shift, wholly or partially, to a new browser.
“LayerX’s platform mitigates the same browser security risks as Talon and Island, while being more focused on the browsing process itself and maintaining all the security and productivity advantages commercial browsers provide,” the company said.
“The enterprise browser introduces inevitable blind spots, stemming from the side-by-side deployment of the enterprise browser and the commercial one. With LayerX these gaps don’t exist in the first place since there is only one browser to monitor and control, providing hermetic security coverage to any browsing activity users perform,” LayerX said.
LayerX says its approach is ideal for businesses because it works in tandem with all commercially available browsers, enabling workforces to maintain existing browsing preferences while giving security administrators tools to tweak the browser into a secure, customizable workspace.
Related: Secure Enterprise Browser Startup Talon Raises $100 Million
Related: Enterprise Browser Startup Island Snags Massive Funding Round
Related: Red Access Raises $6 Million for Secure Browsing Tech