This article by Malia Spencer, Staff Reporter, was originally published by the Portland Business Journal in August, 2016. Click here to read the article on Portland Business Journal.
Roughly two years after the RADAR software platform became an ID Experts standalone product, the business unit is spinning out of its parent company.
RADAR Inc. has landed its own group of investors who have contributed a $6.2 million Series A funding round. Many of those funders were successful ID Experts angel investors.
The roster of investors, who’ll sit on RADAR’s board, include noted Oregon entrepreneur Allen Alley and Avamere’s Rick Miller. Kevin Padrick of Obsidian Finance Group will be the board’s chair.
They’re joined on the board by product inventor and the business’ general manager Mahmood Sher-Jan, RADAR’s new president and CEO.
The company will continue to operate out of its downtown Portland office with its growing staff of about 30 people.
RADAR is a software platform that helps clients respond to data breaches and comply with data breach laws, which vary from state to state. The software, which is easily updated, walks employees through questions to help determine whether data security breaches have occurred and at what level notification is required.
The software helps with documentation and justification for any decisions compliance professionals might make, which makes it easier to conduct audits.
RADAR’s clients include businesses in the insurance, financial services and the health care industries.
More than a quarter of RADAR’s customers are in the Fortune 100 and Fortune 500, Sher-Jan said.
The spinout has been in the works for several years.
“It became pretty clear early on that once we got early adopters and traction, for RADAR to achieve and reach its ultimate potential and shareholder potential, was for RADAR to operate as much like a startup as it could,” Sher-Jan said.
The business was mostly autonomous from its parent: It even had a completely separate office and infrastructure.
“It always made sense for me and the board saw the value of having it independent,” he said. “It can attract a different kind of startup talent and (offers) flexibility in go-to-market and different sales models.”
Padrick, in a statement, said RADAR is equipped to help “an underserved market that is hungry for the innovation, guidance and efficiency.”
Following the RADAR spin-out, ID Experts will focus on enterprise and individual clients with identity protection, monitoring and recovery technology.
Sher-Jan started working with ID Experts as a consultant in 2008. He joined the company full-time by 2011, when the RADAR product was in full development.
The funding round is expected to last the company for multiple years, Sher-Jan said. That said, the team will be opportunistic about funding options if M&A or other opportunities arise.
Click here to read the article on Portland Business Journal.