Blog

Montréal-based cybersecurity startup Flare has acquired fellow United States-based data exposure company Foretrace for an undisclosed amount.

In a statement, Flare CEO Norman Menz said the deal is aimed at broadening Flare’s capabilities for collecting emergent threat data. As part of the deal, Foretrace founders Nick Ascoli and Matt Mosley will be joining the company as senior product strategist and vice president of strategic partnerships, respectively.

Both companies operate in the threat exposure management sector. The term was coined in 2022 by Gartner, which described it as an initiative that combines attackers’ and defenders’ views to minimize enterprises’ exposure to present and future threats.

Founded in 2017, Flare develops solutions that provide companies with rapid insights and automated remediation related to cyber threats. The startup says it monitors dark web marketplaces, leak paste and dump sites, source code repositories, and chat platforms to detect threats that lead to ransomware attacks, data breaches, and security incidents. It claims it can cut down incident response from weeks to minutes. 

Flare, whose backers include Inovia Capital, White Star Capital, and Luge Capital, also offers an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant that can take inputs from any language and deliver actionable intelligence on cyberthreats.

Following Flare’s $9.5-million Series A funding round in 2022, the startup set its sight on a US expansion. According to its website, it has worked with the National Bank of Canada, Metro, and Hitachi Systems Security.

RELATED: US-based Fortinet to open new cybersecurity tech hub in Calgary

Foretrace, based in Howard County, Maryland, also offers software that detects threat exposure and alerts companies before it results in costly breaches or incidents. Flare said Foretrace’s technology enables improved correlation and contextualization of threat exposure data with generative AI systems trained to provide assistance for users in threat investigations. 

“We are thrilled about joining forces with Flare,” Mosley said in a statement. “Together, we are poised to set new standards in threat exposure management, leveraging our combined expertise and innovative technologies to deliver unprecedented value to our customers.”

Flare hopes adding the ability to amalgamate the coverage of previously siloed technology solutions, such as cyber threat intelligence, attack surface management, and digital risk protection, will deliver better outcomes for its customers.

Flare claims it experienced a year of triple-digital growth in 2023, adding that this deal is among the first acquisitions in the threat exposure management sector since Gartner first used the term.

Feature image courtesy Flare.