Avira, a German security company, has acquired SocialShield, and will be adding its service to its lineup of free security products, the company recently announced.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“It is Avira’s mission that our users feel free to make new friends, share pictures, and conduct business on the Web without worries or concerns about their safety,” said Travis Witteveen, COO Markets & Operations of Avira. “Avira is broadening our security focus from safe-guarding computers to now protecting the people who use them, and that requires us to look beyond viruses and worms and Trojans.”
Founded in 2010, SocialShield strives to help parents protect their children on social networks. Its “friend verification technology” checks the child’s contacts against 50 Internet databases. The company was founded by Noah Kindler, Arad Rostampou and George Garrick, the former CEO of Offerpal.
“We are thrilled to become a part of Avira,” Garrick said. “Avira has an exciting and highly complementary existing product line and future roadmap that merges well with ours, and there is also a great fit of corporate culture and vision. With Avira’s existing user footprint, this merger will rapidly accelerate SocialShield’s product leadership as well as give us an entre into many new countries.”
Its investors include Venrock, U.S. Venture Partners, Russell Fradin, Larry Braitman, George Garrick, Craig Sherman and Rick Thompson.