Anti-spam startup rakes in $7 m

CUPERTINO:Proofpoint, Inc., officially shed its cover today, launching with $7 million in Series A funding from Mohr, Davidow Ventures (MDV), Benchmark Capital and Stanford University. Founded by former Netscape CTO, Eric Hahn, the company unveiled the Proofpoint Protection Server and key partnerships with Network Associates, Inc. and Sophos, Plc.

“Over the last two decades, e-mail has matured to the point where businesses have embraced it as the most vital communications medium; yet, its usefulness is becoming endangered by external and internal threats like spam, viruses and compliance issues,” said Eric Hahn, chairman and founder, Proofpoint. “The next phase of online messaging will be driven by the critical business need to manage online communication that enters, leaves and circulates within each enterprise. Proofpoint is pioneering this next critical evolution of electronic messaging technology.”

“We estimate the percentage of inbound Internet corporate email classified as spam will grow to between 60% and 70% by 2005; beyond that, messaging carries with it the potential for a host of costly liabilities,” said Matt Cain, senior vice president, Web & Collaboration Strategies, META Group. “Point solutions can mitigate some of these risks. However, large businesses need an enterprise-grade platform that solves the tactical problems of today, while providing strategic messaging control infrastructure for tomorrow.”