Attila Security raises $2.5M, moves into Fulton-based DataTribe

Cybersecurity startup Attila Security closed on $2.5 million in seed funding to bolster its security product line dubbed GoSilent, said CEO Gregg Smith.
The funding round was led by DataTribe, and the company is now based at the startup studio in Fulton, Md’s Maple Lawn community. Participants also included Durham, N.C.–based Bull City Venture Partners and TEDCO.
Attila’s products are designed to help large companies and government agencies secure data that’s being accessed by employees, whether it’s on mobile devices, servers or in the cloud.
The offering includes a portable device that is part-mobile firewall, part-virtual private network and part-WiFi hotspot. “The GoSilent product is smaller than a wallet, and slightly bigger than a tic tac container,” Smith said. It’s designed to secure data for employees connecting to a public internet source on mobile devices, or connecting IoT devices to the internet. The company also offers cloud services and a virtual server to help secure data.
Smith has led a number of cybersecurity companies such as Baltimore-based OptioLabs and, more recently, Silent Circle. The latter was previously known for secure mobile phone technology, and the company brought in the technology behind GoSilent through the 2017 acquisition of Kesala, a Maryland startup founded by intelligence community veterans which also had DataTribe backing. Silent Circle was sold earlier this year, Smith said, and he then acquired the GoSilent technology from the buyer and formed a new company. Attila has 11 employees, 10 of whom formerly worked at Silent Circle.
With GoSilent, the company has found clients in government as well as regulated industries such as financial services and energy, Smith said.
“Attila represents a unique opportunity to back an early-stage company with sophisticated technology, large tangible market and a high-quality team at the helm. We believe Gregg Smith is the ideal leader to drive this to a big outcome for the region,” Frank Glover, lead director of TEDCO’s Seed Fund, said in a statement.
Following the funding, Smith said the company will likely hire one or two more employees over the next two months. Overall, Attila is looking to expand sales and marketing, product development and complete a certification through the NSA-managed National Information Assurance Partnership.