PSafe offers a free security and privacy app for smartphones, having shifted its focus from PCs to mobile since 2010. The company claims 52% of the Android market in Brazil, representing over 40 million smartphones, and is the fifth most popular app in Google Play in Brazil. Its platform blocks about 86,000 virus attacks per day and 400,000 malicious URLs with a reported 99.9% detection rate, and it is rolling out a SafeWifi router initiative to curb wifi infections. PSafe monetizes by recommending apps and games to users, targeting by geography, device, age and gender; advertisers see an average 2% CTR and 70% retention, and Facebook is its largest of roughly a dozen advertising clients. The company spends heavily on cost-per-install marketing, which its CEO describes as the single biggest expenditure. PSafe plans to use growth capital to expand across Latin America (starting with Mexico) and says it is on track to be profitable in 2016. PSafe is a Brazilian free antivirus software that runs in the background, auto-updates and offers unlimited free cloud storage to back up users' files. The product has achieved heavy adoption among Brazil's B and C middle classes with 30 million installs and about 20 million average monthly users. Founder and CEO Marco de Mello positions the company on building trust rather than revenue; the company currently reports no revenue. PSafe plans to scale to 100 million users and is developing an in-app app, content and game store to live within the PSafe interface. The company emphasizes Portuguese 24/7 support as a cultural advantage versus international competitors. Management intends to use growth capital for technology build-out and awareness marketing to educate Brazilian users about online threats. Psafe (operating as Grupo Xangô) launched in Rio de Janeiro with a cloud-first suite that includes a free cloud-based antivirus, backup/recovery, performance optimization and secure remote access (PSafe Lockbox). The company emphasizes hosted services to minimize local performance impact and says its malware signature updates occur every five seconds across its servers. Founders Marco DeMello, Ram Rao and Ben Myers hired about 30 people and developed the first product within weeks of establishing the office. Psafe is positioning security as one feature within a broader set of hosted consumer services and plans additional products, with one product slated for launch in September and a roadmap of companies under an accelerator-like model. The company is also launching a viral rewards campaign (“Heróis da Rede”) that converts referral points into group-buying coupons. The article does not disclose revenue, user metrics, or the financial terms of the investor commitments.

Total raised

$60M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series D

Latest activity

Jul 2015