Dropbox Acquires Nira, Hiten Shah’s Cloud Document Security Startup

AI-generated image of a system administrator juggling multiple apps.

Dropbox has acquired Nira for an undisclosed amount. The company buried the news in this week’s Dash for Business announcement, revealing that the startup’s technology is behind the AI-powered search app’s content governance capability.

Founded in 2020 by Marie Prokopets and serial entrepreneur Hiten Shah (KISSmetrics, Crazy Egg, and Quick Sprout), Nira provides companies with a real-time access control system to help protect proprietary information from unauthorized prying eyes. It’s aimed at administrators of cloud applications, specifically those in IT and security teams and is billed as being quick to set up — five minutes or less!

Companies listed as customers include GitLab, HackerOne, Essence, RapidSOS, Ad Hoc and SurveyMonkey.

Nira raised $5.3 million in venture funding from 11 investors, including Apollo Projects, Coughdrop Capital, 8-Bit Capital, Mischief, GTMfund, and Fuel Capital. Individual backers include TaskRabbit founder Leah Solivan, Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Nikita Bier, People.ai’s Oleg Rogynskyy, and Flexport’s Ben Braverman.

In an email to customers, Shah reveals that Nira will not shut down following the acquisition. “You can continue using the product in all the ways you’ve become used to,” he writes. “We’re also excited for what we can bring to you in the future as part of Dropbox Dash…”

Further, he affirms that his team will continue developing new products and features, even for platforms beyond Nira’s new owner.

A Dropbox spokesperson tells me the company had no comments on the acquisition “beyond what was disclosed during this week’s launch.”

The email sent out to Nira's customers announcing the startup's acquisition by Dropbox. It was posted by co-founder Hiten Shah to his LinkedIn page. Image credit: <a href=
The email sent out to Nira’s customers announcing the startup’s acquisition by Dropbox. It was posted by co-founder Hiten Shah to his LinkedIn page. Image credit: Hiten Shah/LinkedIn

Updated on October 18, 2024, at 6:53 p.m. PT: Corrected the year Nira was founded.

Updated on October 18, 2024, at 9:32 a.m. PT: Included statement from Dropbox on the acquisition.

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