Cork, the cyber warranty company for MSPs serving small businesses and the ISV solutions they manage, has emerged from stealth. Launched by DVx Ventures, which led its $6 million in seed funding with participation from Outsiders Fund and Vestigo Ventures, Cork says it is on a mission to transform the industry by providing simple and accessible financial protection against cyber risks.
The startup is helmed by CEO Carlson Choi, former Datto SVP of digital partner experience, chief digital officer; and backed by Datto founder Austin McChord, managing director at Outsiders Fund. Rob Rae, Corporate Vice President of Community and Ecosystems at Pax8 and former senior vice president of business development, sits on Cork’s advisory board.
Cork was founded to address cyber risks that SMBs face, and empower them with resources to build strong cyber resilience and financial confidence. Cork’s purpose-built platform is designed to offer MSPs and their customers peace of mind and reduce cyber risk with near-instant financial coverage and settlements in the aftermath of security incidents. The warranty is backed by an inside-out approach to active risk monitoring, detection, and remediation, using real-time data telemetry to underwrite the cyber risk of the protected environment. This approach gives MSPs timely insights to enable quick action.
Cork allows MSPs to underwrite coverage using their own security stack, monitor and remediates risks to their cybersecurity posture in real time, and get claims paid within days.
“The accelerating need for cyber financial protection is causing premiums to increase and coverages to decline – disproportionately affecting SMBs,” said Choi, in a press statement. “Cork is addressing this problem in a different way through a complete data-driven warranty solution designed for MSPs and their SMB customers. It’s easy to access, and provides actionable insights, flexible premiums, and simple claims management.”
“From my time founding and growing Datto into a multibillion-dollar business, I’m intimately familiar with what keeps MSPs up at night,” said McChord, in a press statement. “This includes the need for a trusted simple, accessible financial solution against cyber risks. Cork meets this need with a monitoring and warranty product that easily plugs into their tech stack, adds tremendous value to their services and gives instant peace of mind to the SMB customers they serve. I’m thrilled to be working closely with the Cork team.”
“Cybersecurity and risk management are top of mind for organizations of all sizes,” said Jon McNeill, founder at Cork and CEO and co-founder at DVx Ventures, in a press statement. “While large enterprises have the resources to mitigate attacks, small businesses rely on their MSP partners for this know-how. Through our inside-out monitoring, rapid underwriting, and easy claims tracking, we put security control in the hands of MSPs to financially protect them and their clients. With a world-class team and investors in place, we’re ready to deliver on Cork’s mission.”
In conjunction with the launch, Cork announced strategic partnerships with Barracuda Networks. The Cork warranty will be bundled with new and existing renewals of Barracuda’s Managed XDR Solution. Cork’s first MSP partner, River Run, will offer the Cork active monitoring platform and warranty to its clients.
