Walmart invests in cybersecurity startup

With the global cybersecurity battle growing increasingly sophisticated and merchants’ demand for personalized customer data rising, Walmart and other corporate giants have decided to invest in Team8, a cybersecurity think tank founded by former leaders of Israel’s top military intelligence unit. Team8, founded in 2014, is developing tools that would allow companies to securely share their customer data with third-party vendors in the cloud. In turn, that could allow those vendors to use machine learning to gain insights into consumer behavior and help merchants like Walmart make better predictions about individual customer’s needs and wants, all while leaving data encrypted. Walmart sees experimentation with and the adoption of emerging technologies such as blockchain, VR and robotics as pivotal to continually improving customer shopping experiences, staying ahead of the curve and driving its market share.

In total, Walmart and other partners invested USD 85 million in capital in Team8. To date, the company has raised more than USD 260 million. Team8 was founded with the goal of helping companies thrive in the face of growing cyber threats.