Intelligent CIO North America Issue 49 | Page 10

NEWS

Heeler Security secures $ 8.5 million seed funding

Heeler Security , a pioneering startup in the application security space , has successful closed a $ 8.5 million Seed Series funding round – led by Norwest Venture Partners with significant participation from Storm Ventures .

“ Application security requires a new approach that focuses on runtime visibility and that ’ s exactly what Heeler has done ,” said David Zilberman , General Partner , Norwest Venture Partners .
Chris Hertz , Chief Executive Officer , James Green , Chief Product Officer , Trever McKee , Chief Technology Officer and Chris DeRamus , Chief Strategy Officer , launched Heeler in June 2023 , driven by a vision to fundamentally transform application security by delivering :
• Real-time security and business context
• Detection , enrichment and posture management
• Response orchestration
Heeler ’ s patent-pending ProductDNA technology unifies the code , behavior and business context of applications in real-time .
ProductDNA delivers what was previously impossible : a frictionless chain of custody between the intended state in code and the running state in production . Acting as a shared operating platform for both security and developers , it embeds security seamlessly into the development lifecycle , benefiting both security and developer teams alike .
Heeler enables organizations to fulfill their mandate of customer trust by enhancing security and availability while maintaining speed and efficiency by automating assessment of security issues on business applications .
“ We are uniquely positioned to seize a massive market opportunity by creating a platform that offers comprehensive SDLC security at the convergence of application and cloud ,” said Hertz .
“ This round of seed funding will support our execution of that vision .”

Harvard Federal Credit Union implements AI-driven underwriting platform

Harvard Federal Credit Union ( Harvard FCU ) has implemented the Scienaptic AI underwriting leading to an increase in approval rates and a notable enhancement in the member experience .

Instant approvals increased by 80 %+ for credit cards , 50 %+ for unsecured loans and went up from 0 to 30 %+ for vehicle loans .
Harvard FCU has over $ 1.2 billion in assets and serves over 55,000 members as a financial services provider to Harvard affiliates , including faculty , staff , students , alumni and retirees of Harvard University , Harvard teaching hospitals and affiliated organizations .
Through its innovative service , Harvard FCU seeks to deepen its longstanding commitment to housing issues , green initiatives , financial literacy and access to credit for low and moderate-income borrowers .
“ At Harvard Federal Credit Union , every member is valued and their unique financial needs are prioritized ,” said Tanya Tanaro , VP of Education and Consumer Lending , Harvard FCU .
“ With the deployment of Scienaptic ’ s AI-powered credit underwriting platform , we ’ re now approving loans faster , making more efficient decisions and offering personalized financial support . With sophisticated automation , deeper lending , and fair credit access , we are creating a future where financial empowerment transforms member lives .”
Pankaj Jain , President and Co-founder , Scienaptic , said : “ Our AIpowered credit underwriting platform is expanding credit access , allowing Harvard Federal to offer a more inclusive , personalized and supportive experience for both current and future members . This goes beyond technology – it ’ s about empowering people to achieve their financial dreams .”
10 INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA www . intelligentcio . com