Sonet.io raises $6 million seed funding to fix remote work challenges for global, distributed workforces

RSA Conference-- Sonet.io, built for IT leaders that want a great experience for their remote workers while enhancing security and observability, today emerged from stealth and announced it’s raised $6 million in seed capital, co-led by The Hive and WestWave Capital.

A recent Gartner study on the future of work says that in 2023, organizations face historic challenges: a competitive talent landscape, an exhausted workforce, pressure to control costs, and the rise of artificial intelligence and automation leading to remote work becoming a permanent fixture. According to a recent report, the Global Remote Workplace Services Market size is expected to reach $67 billion by 2028, rising at a market growth of 22.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Sonet.io sits at the intersection of these trends. Its industry-first, air-gapped solution greatly simplifies IT operations and streamlines remote workforce management while reducing costs by up to 10 times compared to traditional solutions. Sonet.io safeguards applications and servers with zero-trust access control using no-code policies and a user-friendly admin console that reduces the demand for costly IT expertise.

With the funding, Sonet plans to accelerate customer acquisition and continue to invest in the SaaS platform to provide a seamless user experience, protect applications, servers, and data, and provide visibility into remote workforce activities.

Dharmendra Mohan, co-founder and CEO, Sonet.io:  “Our mission is to transform the remote work landscape by tackling its distinct challenges head-on. We are committed to enhancing remote worker productivity through a seamless, secure user experience that can be accessed from any device. Our innovative cloud-based solution eliminates the need for device agents, allowing comprehensive observability for remote workforces via a unified dashboard.”

Dharmendra Mohan has more than 20 years of experience building cybersecurity solutions, having launched two global security cloud services at Symantec and holding leadership roles at Blue Coat as it grew from a startup into a $4.5 billion security company. He co-founded Sonet.io with another former Symantec executive, Venu Banda, who serves as Sonet.io’s CTO and brings decades of experience in architecting software solutions across various verticals.

The transition to remote work has created multiple obstacles for organizations. Today’s distributed workforce requires secure access to applications, intellectual property and confidential data, all without affecting productivity or incurring excessive administrative costs. Traditional methods, such as VDI servers, shipping secure devices or installing security agents, are complex, expensive and do not offer visibility into the activities of the remote workforce.

Sonet.io’s cloud service allows businesses to control access to applications and servers, prevent sensitive data theft and monitor user activity from any device, with no agents or additional devices required. Users use their preferred browser to securely access applications and servers from desktop and mobile devices. Its SOC-2 certified product protects against intellectual property theft, monitors remote workers' activities to track productivity and maintains compliance with security policies.

Nico Popp, chief product officer at Tenable: “In the new world of remote work it has become mission critical to streamline the employee onboarding process. Organizations would benefit from technology that enables instant, secure access to applications from any device that also provides robust security controls to help with threat mitigation without impacting employee productivity.”

Kamesh Raghavendra, partner and chief product officer, The Hive: “The fast-changing nature of remote and distributed work in the enterprise has outpaced traditional solutions like VDI, desktop-as-a-service and distributing enterprise devices or browsers. Sonet enables enterprise IT to provide distributed workers with a much more enhanced experience at a fraction of the cost with unparalleled observability and security features. We look forward to working with the Sonet founders to become a leader in the remote work market.”

Gaurav Manglik, Partner, WestWave Capital: “Remote work, driven by talent shortages and the need for diverse skill sets, has become the new normal. Sonet unlocks remote workforce potential by providing instant air-gapped secure access to applications on preferred browsers and devices while enhancing user observability in IT infrastructure. This observability enables organizations to identify bottlenecks and make data-driven decisions to optimize workflows, boosting efficiency and productivity.”

www.sonet.io