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From Ballet To Breach Prevention: How A Magician’s Son Raised $4.2 million In Seed Funding For His Cybersecurity Startup
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Editor’s note: The following is the latest profile in a series of articles about startup founders from non-technical backgrounds who have launched successful venture-backed companies.
Key facts
- The hedge fund offered a potential contract worth $1 million to $2 million if Hilt could solve the problem, Cielen said
- Array Ventures led the round, joined by Verdict Capital, Base10 Partners, Brickyard, Liquid 2 Ventures, Sequel, the Sarah Smith Fund and Alumni Ventures
- The startup has 11 employees, including co-founder and CTO Alex Genest and founding engineer Zin Bitar
- Now, the startup is emerging from stealth announcing it has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to help companies detect and stop unusual data activity, including the theft of sensitive information
Summary
Before William “Will” Cielen was building cybersecurity software, he was performing in his father’s magic shows. The son of a magician and an acrobat, Cielen spent his first five years living on a cruise ship, followed by five years in Las Vegas. “I was rather introverted as a child, but I became extroverted through the unique upbringing,” Cielen recalls. By 15, he had skipped two grades, started college and launched a website design and development business.