CALIFORNIA COMPUTER SECURITY FIRM PC GUARDIAN RAISES $6M IN NEW CAPITALMarin Independent Journal - BusinessGuardian finds its angels

By Jim Welte

San Rafael's PC Guard-ian Technologies Inc. has garnered $6 million in funding from two venture capital firms, with one official saying the company could become a major player in Marin.
Company founder Noah Groth said the move is evidence that the data encryption business is here to stay.

The money, coming equally from Altos Ventures and Cardinal Venture Capital, is the first round of venture funding in the 21-year history of Groth's data security companies. Two years ago, he split PC Guardian into two firms, PC Guardian Anti-Theft Devices and PC Guardian Technologies.

The money will boost Groth's growth plans for Guardian Technologies, which will nearly double its staff to more than 100 by the end of the year and add a chief executive officer and a vice president of sales. When those hires are made, Groth will become the company's chief technology officer.

"This really will enable us to do the things that we've been wanting to do but did not have the resources to do," Groth said.

The company, at 1133 E. Francisco Blvd., makes technology that simplifies computer security, allowing companies, organizations and individuals to protect private data by encrypting it. PC Guardian makes software to encrypt data on a variety of media, including discs, file folders, e-mail and removable media like portable hard drives.

The new infusion of cash will allow the company to take each of those individual software products and sell them in a bundle called Encryption Anywhere.

"It will reduce the total cost of ownership for the enterprise," Smith said.

The funding likely will make the company a major player in Marin, said Warren Smith, Guardian's vice president of marketing.

"With Lucas heading south, here's a company that will keep the core of its business right where it started," he said.

Data encryption has become more important in the past few years as the devices on which it is stored become more mobile, Smith said.

"Mobility has really driven this industry," he said.

Breaches of data privacy have been increasingly prevalent in recent years.

Telecommunications giant MCI Inc. said in May that a laptop computer containing the names and Social Security numbers of 16,500 current and former employees was stolen from a Colorado financial analyst's car.

Some of the biggest names in business have adopted encryption to protect data. PC Guardian's clients include Lockheed Martin Corp., Lincoln National and Humana Inc.

"Encryption is generally acknowledged to be the best defense against loss or theft of mission-critical data, and PC Guardian is a long-established and respected player in the field," said Anthony Lee, a general partner with Altos Ventures.