c/side, a cybersecurity company with tools for monitoring, optimizing, and securing vulnerable browser-side third-party scripts, today emerged from stealth with $1.7 million in funding. The pre-seed round was led by Scribble Ventures, with strategic individual investors including Roar Ventures, Kathy Korevec, Dan Scheinman, Jason Warner, Mike Taylor, Kevin Van Gundy, Zain Rizavi, Daniel Lopez, Dan Smith and Nick Gianos. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, partner programs, and go-to-market initiatives.

“c/side is a pioneering cybersecurity company dedicated to securing the browser supply chain against zero-day attacks,” said Kevin Weil, Operator in Residence, Scribble Ventures. “The c/side team—with decades of web security expertise acquired at JP Morgan, Cloudflare, Vercel, and Microsoft—understands how big of a security and compliance challenge third-party scripts are, and what needs to be done to ensure browser security. We’re excited to support their growth and watch them revolutionize the web security industry.”

“As cybersecurity compliance mandates like PCI DSS become more prescriptive around third-party browser scripts, c/side’s solution is critical to ensuring proactive, continual security,” said Dan Scheinman, an angel investor in c/side. “C/side is solving a problem that has continued to grow larger without a sufficient solution. I’m looking forward to what this talented team can accomplish.”

Addressing the Invisible Threat

Breaches from third-party scripts continue to be a significant cybersecurity challenge. Undetected breaches can instantly jeopardize millions of users’ data, leading to significant financial and reputational losses. While third-party scripts add useful functionality like ads, captchas, analytics, and chatbots, many of these scripts are not optimized for performance and run on infrastructure that is especially prone to hijacking. As companies increasingly adopt security solutions to protect against inbound attacks and to review their own code quality, attacks directed at a user’s browser—using external scripts—are becoming much more advanced and much more common. As breach headlines continue to underscore, there is a clear need for third-party scripts to be thoroughly monitored and secured.

“At c/side, we are creating a toolkit that handles third-party scripts with an advanced proxy service,” said Simon Wijckmans, founder and CEO, c/side. “With our unique, AI-fueled detection engine, we enable customers to solve a massive security hole while also improving the performance of their website by up to 30%. Our approach of applying AI to redefine modern web security solves previously unsolvable problems—it shows our innovative edge, but also underscores our dedication to redefining the possibilities within web security. I’ve seen this challenge—and its repercussions—first-hand throughout my career, and my personal goal is to put an end to the entire attack vector.”

Facilitating Compliance

The availability of c/side’s toolkit aligns impeccably with the Security Standards Council’s rollout of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard V4.0 (PCI DSS 4.0). The standard calls for stricter security, and c/side’s technology is purpose-built for businesses navigating the complexities of compliance and security in the digital payment space.

C/side simplifies meeting compliance requirements related to third-party scripts, offering solutions that provide seamless compliance—even for businesses on the platform’s free tier. C/side’s toolkit stands out by offering continuous real-time monitoring and scanning of scripts leveraging AI, ensuring immediate detection, and neutralizing threats. This proactive approach removes harmful scripts instantly, preserving a secure online experience for businesses and consumers alike.

C/side’s free tier is in open BETA today. Sign up on cside.dev.