eBay founder’s Omidyar Network invests in Baltimore-based Terbium Labs

Federal Hill-based Terbium Labs raised $2 million in new funding from the Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and Pam Omidyar, said Terbium CEO Danny Rogers.

The Omidyar Network is making a strategic investment in the cybersecurity company as part of a focus on data privacy.

“Data privacy has become a defining issue of our time, affecting individuals, governments and businesses,” Subhashish Bhadra, investment principal at Omidyar Network, who is joining Terbium’s board, said in a statement. “Responsible data practices can help businesses increase consumer trust, reduce regulatory risk, and create shareholder value. Terbium’s product enables that by detecting and remedying data breaches without ever receiving a corporation or individual’s sensitive information.”

Called Matchlight, Terbium’s product allows businesses to search and monitor parts of the web that aren’t available on search engines to ensure the protection of sensitive data of employees, customers and intellectual property. Through technology it calls data fingerprinting, the information is not revealed to anyone outside the client, including Terbium.

“We strive to set a new standard for information security and risk management that can help companies prevent damage, while still holding ourselves to the highest standard in terms of protecting the privacy of their information,” CEO Rogers said in a statement announcing the investment.

In an interview, Rogers said that’s been a feature of the company’s technology since the beginning. The company sees data privacy as a key differentiator, which “sets us up for being both compliant with privacy regulations and generally less risk for the customer.” The increased focus on data privacy resulted in new laws in California, as well as Europe and in Brazil.

The company, said Rogers, is “uniquely positioned as that style of privacy regulation continues to take hold around the world.” The funding will help Terbium as it continues to develop the product and grow sales and marketing.

The move sees a billionaire tech founder’s impact-focused investment arm — which has championed Good ID, an effort to ensure that new forms of identification are good for citizens as well as institutions — invest in a Baltimore startup with which it aligned on mission.

“It brings some very smart global money into the region,” Rogers said.

Terbium has a team of about 30 people. Along with with Bhadra, the company also said Rohyt Belani, CEO of Northern Virginia cybersecurity company Cofense, is joining the Terbium board.