3.26.25

Securing our mobile future with Protectt.ai

Bessemer Venture Partners leads Protectt.ai’s $8.7 million Series A, building the next-gen threat defense ecosystem to protect millions of apps, transactions, and users.

India is more connected than ever. The digital revolution of the mid-2010s fueled an explosion in smartphone adoption and mobile internet usage, making India the world’s second-largest market for mobile apps. The country’s mobile ecosystem is thriving; in 25 years, there's been an astonishing 22,400% increase in mobile internet users in India, growing from 4 million mobile users to 900 million.

At the heart of this growth lies India’s vast Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector, comprising over 500 banks, 10,000 non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and 1,000 SEBI-regulated entities, collectively serving 482 million bank account holders. Adding to this are large-scale government infrastructure apps like Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM, with 50M+ downloads), the government’s mobile governance interface (UMANG, with 30M+ downloads), and DigiLocker (10M+ downloads), further driving mobile adoption.

Rapid digital expansion has led to the threat of cyberfraud. In the past three years, financial scams like phishing, SIM swapping, and fraudulent UPI (Unified Payments Interface) requests have led to $15 billion in losses. Additionally, data breaches cost India over $100 billion annually, making mobile app security an urgent necessity.

Enter Protectt.ai, a cutting-edge platform offering full stack mobile app security solutions to these large BFSIs, government, and consumer app ecosystems. Its flagship solution, AppProtectt, leverages state of the art algorithms, policy controls, and behavioral analytics to provide real-time protection for apps, devices, and transactions. Already securing over 100 million mobile devices, AppProtectt enables businesses to:

  • Restrict app usage on public networks & VPNs
  • Encrypt data to prevent man-in-the-middle & SSL pinning attacks
  • Detect and neutralize threats like keyloggers, root access, and spyware — and more.

Regulatory bodies are also stepping up to mitigate the cybersecurity challenges in today’s financial institutions. In 2021, the RBI introduced Digital Payment Security Controls, requiring all banks, NBFCs, and payment institutions to implement end-to-end mobile security measures. More recently, SEBI’s Cybersecurity framework (CSCRF) has mandated all its regulated entities establish a Security Operations Center (SOC) by April 2025, reinforcing the need for advanced security solutions—and eventually mobile app security. As a result, these BFSI institutions are increasingly turning to solutions like Protectt.ai to ensure compliance adherence and protect their attack surface area. While there exist legacy products in the market, Protectt.ai’s offering stood out with their superior configurability across policies, higher technical coverage and significantly better customer support.

But for the Protectt.ai team, it doesn’t just stop at AppProtectt. Protectt.ai’s broader security suite includes identity management, device-SIM binding, fraud risk management, and code obfuscation, offering these institutions a comprehensive full-stack mobile security platform.

We’re thrilled to partner with Manish Mimani and Mohanraj Selvaraj in this journey to redefine mobile app security in India and beyond.