A Halifax-based startup that assures its customers of a secure way to transfer sensitive documents has won $1.1 million in seed financing, it announced today.
TitanFile Inc. received the financing from Innovacorp, the First Angel Network, and other investors. Its cloud-based file storage system organizes documents around people instead of the typical file folder or directory system. Both messages and files can be shared with the service, and it ties into other cloud storage like Dropbox and Google Drive.
The file organization system keeps a detailed record of any updates or edits made to file, attributed to users. It can be used on various mobile devices and desktop PCs. The service’s emphasis is on security. Files are encrypted and store in secure facilities – the same place where the government stores your health records.
The money came after being in communication with the venture capital organization for some time, according to Milan Vrekic, co-founder and CEO of TitanFile.
“After a while they got so involved that it just felt natural for them to invest,” he says. “Security and collaboration are hot topics and there is a lot of interest by investors in these areas.”
TitanFile isn’t disclosing its new valuation based on the financing. But the share dilution of the firm is less than 30 per cent, Vrekic says.
Though still in its early stages, TitanFile counts the two largest law firms in Atlantic Canada among its clients. McInnes Cooper and Stewart McKelvey use the tool with their clients to pass sensitive documents back and forth.
TitanFile caters to law firms with security needs (Photo: TitanFile).
“On the virality side we have a benefit that we touch our client’s clients,” Vrekic says. “Meaning that if a law firm sets up a communication channel via TitanFile, people added to that channel are exposed to it in a frictionless way.”
With the money, TitanFile will be hiring more operations and engineering staff, the founder says. It will also be entering the U.S. market with a focus on New York and the Mid-west.
TitanFile has won its share of attention in the startup community. It was named one of the Top 25 Canadian Up and Coming ICT companies by the Branham300, won second place in the National Alpha Innovation competition, and scored a Cloudy Award for People’s Choice: Best Cloud Newcomer at SXSW.
Brian Jackson is the Editor at ITBusiness.ca. E-mail him at [email protected], follow him on Twitter, connect on Google+, read his blog, and check out the IT Business Facebook Page. 
