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Bentonville Cybersecurity Startup Bastazo Raises $1M, Plans Early 2025 Product Launch

2 min read

Bentonville-based cybersecurity startup Bastazo announced it has secured $1 million in funding after completing the HF0 Residency program in San Francisco.

Bastazo, which provides vulnerability management solutions for critical infrastructure companies, was one of 10 participants selected from 10,000 applicants for the artificial intelligence-focused program.

Founded in 2020, Bastazo began through U.S. Department of Energy-funded research at the University of Arkansas, with its work focused on cybersecurity for electric power systems. The company, which employs just under 20 people, specializes in automating vulnerability analysis and remediation for utilities and other infrastructure operators.

“We do a lot of work with vulnerability and patch management,” Kylie McClanahan, Bastazo’s chief technology officer, told Arkansas Business in an interview. “In the same way you have to update your computer because there’s a security problem, you also have to update the devices that literally run the power grid.”

The company’s platform helps resource-constrained utilities manage the oftentimes overwhelming task of analyzing and addressing cybersecurity weaknesses. According to McClanahan, utilities often receive dozens or hundreds of vulnerability notifications monthly, each requiring analysis and remediation planning.

“This is not the machines are taking your jobs,” McClanahan said. “This is, ‘You already have too much on your plate, let us take the parts off that can be automated, because a lot of what you’re doing can’t.’ There’s a lot of operating the grid that needs human interaction and expertise.”

McClanahan said the three-month HF0 Residency provided Bastazo with time for product development and strategic planning. The program included mentorship opportunities, workshops and collaboration with other startups, as well as the $1 million in funding. The HF0 (spelled with a zero, not the letter “O”) Residency is backed by prominent Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs and investors including Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon.

The company plans to use the funding primarily for new product development and hiring, specifically for marketing, communications, public relations and sales roles. Most of Bastazo’s employees are located in northwest Arkansas, with additional team members in Little Rock.

McClanahan said there is strategic value in Bastazo’s Arkansas headquarters, given the rural nature of many utility operations and connections with the University of Arkansas. The company also participated in Startup Junkie Foundation’s Fuel Cybersecurity Accelerator program in the summer of 2024.

Bastazo’s next milestone is the launch of its “main platform” in early 2025, which will automate the process of analyzing vulnerabilities and developing remediation plans. All a customer would have to do is install the solutions, McClanahan said. Though the company did not give an exact date for the product launch, a press release announcing the Hf0 Residency stated it would be sometime this month.

“We’ll say, ‘Here’s what’s been released, here’s how severe it is, here’s how quickly you have to address it, and most importantly, here’s how you can fix it,'” McClanahan said. “We’re not just giving you a list of problems.”

Though Bastazo works with clients like power, water and energy systems, the company declined to share specific customers, citing security reasons.

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