• SHS Ventures and VNG Innovation GmbH join eCAPITAL AG and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen as partners of Leipzig-based technology company Rhebo and invest millions through their subsidiaries SHS Ventures and VNG Innovation
• Participation enables further advancement and market penetration of the industrial anomaly detection to protect Industrial Control Systems against technical malfunctions and cyberattacks.
• Kristin Preßler strengthens the management of Rhebo as COO

Leipzig, Germany, 27/03/2018 ‒ Rhebo supports automation companies and critical infrastructures in ensuring process continuity and cyber security in their industrial control systems (ICS) as well as network control technology.

In its second financing round, the Leipzig-based technology company, founded in 2014, will receive a seven-digit sum from the existing investors eCAPITAL AG and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen as well as the new investors SHS Ventures GmbH and VNG Innovation. In 2016, eCAPITAL AG and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen had already confirmed Rhebo's innovative business model and portfolio with an investment of 2.5 million euros.

»The investment in Rhebo fits into our strategy of further developing as technology leaders. Digitization and IIoT have long since found their way into the Saarland steel industry and have become indispensable. Of course, cybersecurity is playing an increasingly important role. This applies to the digital transformation in our companies as well as to the entire manufacturing industry«, Dr. Michael Müller, CEO of SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co.KGaA, explains the engagement. 

»We are delighted to be involved with Rhebo, an innovative Leipzig start-up company that has recognized the signs of the times,« adds Andreas Franke, Managing Director of VNG Innovation GmbH. »The threat to information and communication technology systems of digital infrastructures, such as in energy supply or industry, is increasing. Attacks not only endanger the security of supply to the general public, but also efficient production processes. In the gas industry, production facilities, storage facilities, transmission networks and gas distribution networks must be protected against attacks as well. As a German technology company, Rhebo is committed to reliably protecting digital networks against cyberattacks. We see great potential here at Rhebo to make the information and communication technologies of municipal utilities, grid operators and industrial companies, among others, more secure,« Franke continues. 

Rhebo has repeatedly demonstrated the effectiveness of its industrial anomaly detection in various projects in the automation, automotive and critical infrastructure sectors to ensure the continuity and cybersecurity of ICS and network control systems. Last year, the renowned New York-based analyst firm Gartner Inc. named the company as on of the top providers in its global »Market Guide for Operational Technology Security 2017«.

Strong partners in a highly competitive market

»With VNG Innovation and SHS Ventures, we join forces with two strong strategic partners who are well established in our core markets of critical infrastructure and the automation industry«, says Klaus Mochalski, CEO of Rhebo, explaining the decision for the investment partners. »This enables us to increase Rhebo's healthy growth of recent years and further develop our technology in line with the increasing demands placed on industrial control systems. The need for new solutions enabling a seamless network monitoring of ICS for technical problems and covert cyberattacks has clearly increased, not least due to the German IT Security Bill and the increasing networking of production facilities. This is also clearly demonstrated by the continuation of the investment by our initial investors eCAPITAL AG and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, which have held stakes in Rhebo since 2016.«

Reinforcement of the management of Rhebo

In the course of Rhebo's further market penetration, the management appointed Kristin Preßler as Chief of Operations at the beginning of the year. The shareholders are thus reacting to Rhebo's rapid growth and the further expansion of the company's activities. Kristin Preßler has established the marketing and communication department within the company and, as COO, will now take over responsibility for the operational implementation of Rhebo's strategy alongside CEO Klaus Mochalski. She has over ten years of experience in the strategic development of communication and marketing in IT companies. Kristin Preßler studied communication sciences in Leipzig and France and is a trained publishing clerk.

About

Rhebo

Rhebo is a German technology company that is specialized in ensuring the operational reliability of industrial control systems by monitoring control communications. Rhebo provides hardware, software and services to secure networked industrial control systems and Critical Infrastructures as well as to increase productivity. Rhebo is listed as one of the 30 top providers for industrial security in Gartner’s »Market Guide for Operational Technology Security 2017«. The company is member of Teletrust – IT Security Association Germany. rhebo.com

Rhebo Industrial Protector - Seamless ICS transparency in real-time

Rhebo Industrial Protector continuously and non-intrusively monitors the ICS communication including the switchgear, telecontrol and network control technology. All data packets are decoded at content level and any suspicious activity is reported in real-time. Even abnormal operation sequences that can lead to system downtimes, such as network problems and machine malfunctions, are reliably detected, assessed according to their risk and reported.  The administration retains complete control over the system functionality. All data about suspicious operations (including metadata and package contents) is stored. This allows a detailed analysis of each suspicious event. Additionally, filter rules (filter policies) and universal interfaces enable the integration of Industrial Protector as a data source for existing backend systems such as SAP, MES and firewalls to implement a big data strategy and comprehensive network monitoring concept.

SHS Ventures

The investment company SHS Ventures was founded in February 2016 by VSE AG and SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA in order to jointly identify and develop new business fields for the German federal state of Saarland. SHS - Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA (SHS) was founded in 2001 as a management holding company of Saarstahl AG and Dillinger Hüttenwerke AG in Saarland, Germany, and employs around 14,000 people, generating total sales of around 4.5 billion euros. stahl-holding-saar.de

VNG Innovation GmbH

VNG Innovation GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of VNG AG and a member of the VNG Group. It was founded in 2015 and aims to enter into strategic partnerships with start-ups that are particularly addressing energy industry challenges. Investments focus on energy efficiency, energy storage, energy conversion, digitization, mobility and sustainability. Founders who match this description can apply via a contact form on the company website. vng-innovation.de. 
The VNG Group with its Leipzig-based parent company VNG - Verbundnetz Gas Aktiengesellschaft (VNG AG) is a group of companies in the European gas industry with 15 fully consolidated companies in eight countries. The core business is divided into four divisions: Exploration & Production, Trading & Sales, Transport and Storage. The VNG Group employs around 1,200 people and generated sales of around €10.3 billion in 2017. vng-gruppe.de/en

Contact

Rhebo GmbH
Kristin Preßler (COO)
Spinnereistr. 7
04179 Leipzig
Germany

Phone: +49-341-393-790-180
Mobile: +49-162-1002085
www.rhebo.com
press@rhebo.com