Mjolnir Ventures

Venture Capital in Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, IoT

Our unique investment thesis rests on two strong foundations: 1) that the problem of protecting information and technology systems from attack is a large market and will only grow in importance over the coming years as these systems become more critical to our lives, and 2) that the talent and entrepreneurship required for solving these problems will come increasingly from outside of the traditional geographic startup centers. Cybersecurity is a hot market. Mobile devices have made advanced technology a truly personal part of our lives. Cloud computing allows increasing amounts of data about us to be stored essentially forever. Advances in artificial intelligence allow for increasingly sophisticated inferences to be drawn from this wealth of data. And systems important to our physical safety and civic lives are now also becoming a part of these mobile and cloud-based ecosystems. The world is growing more aware of the vulnerability of these systems to attack. Recent large-scale heists have made evident the clear and present danger inherent to holding high value information in technology systems. As the payoff of attacks grow, these attackers are becoming more sophisticated, more organized, and more persistent. These trends are only increasing in their speed and intensity. As they do, companies large and small are coming under increasing pressure from their customers and from regulators to protect data and operations. Simultaneously key events have been unfolding on a global scale. Massively-populated regions throughout the world once in poverty are now joining the information age in force. Key parts of Europe are casting off industrial age thinking and are beginning to embrace the startup ecosystem. Together this is loosening the iron grip that Silicon Valley has held on the formation of new companies. As advances in internet and mobile technologies are increasingly needed throughout the world and the capability for building these technologies is democratizing geographically, we should expect that many of the next break-out companies will be formed outside the Valley. We bring together a diverse team with exceptional background and depth in all elements of cyber defense of mobile, cloud, and other emerging technology markets. Our approach is to use our unique insight to identify the overlooked startup companies, entrepreneurs, and teams outside the US, and in particular in Europe, who are creating the next generation of market-changing technologies in the cybersecurity space. By bringing capital and experience to these underserved areas, we will expose top entrepreneurs to wider opportunities, adding substantial strategic value beyond the base investment. By helping to bring these companies to markets in the US and Western Europe that would have otherwise been closed to them, we also expose the companies to the US equity market where higher valuations are normal, increasing the exit value of our investments through arbitrage. We believe deeply that all elements of this activity bring positive social value to the world. In our connected world, digital rights have become human rights, and technology solutions are needed to protect these rights. The democratization of economic opportunity in the technology market brings prosperity and hope to people who previously had their expectations artificially lowered. Maximizing the arbitrage this creates will help over time to close it, benefiting all people of the world.