Rain Capital is shaking up the investment side of cybersecurity. Apart from only 11% of cybersecurity professionals being women, venture capital (VC) firms also suffer from a gender disparity with limited diversity. According to TechCrunch, only 8% of partners from the top 100 venture firms were women in 2017, and eight of these top 100 firms recently added a female partner for the first time. Just like cybersecurity, there are many stories — such as Ellen Pao’s — that detail years of exhausting, relentless, and toxic sexism.

So what makes Rain Capital different? Founded by former Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Chenxi Wang, the firm is leading the charge with three major changes:

  • It’s proactively seeking out women technologists and minority startups.
    • Why this is great: It clobbers the excuse of talent shortages. If you’re not finding any female or diverse talent, it’s because you’re looking in the wrong places. Waiting for people to come to you is lazy and simply doesn’t bring the progress that this industry needs.
  • It’s a women-led and women-managed cyber investment firm.
    • Why this is great: It normalizes the image of women succeeding and leading in cybersecurity. It’s hard to consider a career in an industry where you never see yourself represented, so Rain Capital is redesigning the image.
  • It’s investing in security awareness and culture.
    • Why this is great: Tools and technology mean nothing if your employees aren’t willing to follow a policy. Instead of just throwing money at the latest and greatest security products, Rain Capital is also investing in educating its customers.

Traditional VC methods do not work. The lack of gender and diversity representation from both the practitioner and investment sides of cybersecurity proves that the industry has fallen behind. Thanks to Rain Capital for setting the stage with these much-needed changes — we’re excited to follow your next steps!