Very Good Security Inks $35M Series B

The round led by Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division with participation from existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Vertex Ventures US.

The funding will support VGS' rapid growth as the number of companies entrusting sensitive data to VGS increases, including customers like Brex, Travel Bank, Deserve, Fivestars, and LendUp.

VGS is building modern SaaS infrastructure for data security, compliance, and privacy. VGS acts as a custodian for any type of sensitive data (payments, PII, access credentials, health records, etc.), providing customers synthetic, aliased data that they can use in place of the original values.

As a result, companies can adopt a "Zero Data" approach, eliminating the need to store sensitive data within their own systems. VGS facilitates the secure exchange of data with any approved endpoint, so clients retain full use and control of their data, without the liability, breach risk or compliance burden of having to maintain a secure data environment themselves.

"For most companies, data is simply an input to achieve a business outcome such as getting paid, underwriting a loan or running a background check," says Mahmoud Abdelkader, CEO and co-founder of Very Good Security. "VGS provides specialized SaaS infrastructure to make it easy for developers and businesses to achieve their objectives while offloading the risk that comes with data custodianship."

"Data compromise is one of the largest cyber-security and reputation risks businesses face today," said David Campbell, a managing director in Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division. "Securing data is traditionally complex and expensive. VGS' unique solution redefines the challenge by removing the sensitive data from systems making them easier to build, secure and manage, reducing both time and cost of securing data."

Corporate data governance is under increasing scrutiny from regulators and consumers alike as expectations of how data is secured and shared evolve. Goldman Sachs' investment in VGS recognizes the unique value proposition that VGS offers, helping companies to ensure user privacy and data security without compromising functionality or business outcomes.

"Consumers' desire for privacy does not have to be at odds with businesses' ability to achieve their objectives," said Alex Rampell, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz. "VGS is unique in that it lets companies use sensitive data without needing to see it or store it themselves. It is a win for both sides."

About Very Good Security

Very Good Security (VGS) is a leading data security company providing a developer-friendly platform to help businesses use sensitive data without the cost or liability of securing the data themselves. VGS provides specialized infrastructure to act as a custodian for sensitive data, improving security while also accelerating business growth. Founded in 2016 by Mahmoud Abdelkader and Marshall Jones, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information, visit https://www.verygoodsecurity.com/

About Goldman Sachs

Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division (MBD) is the primary center for the firm's long-term principal investing activity. MBD is one of the leading private capital investors in the world with investments across private equity, infrastructure, private debt, growth equity and real estate.