Sydney, Australia - 21 April 2026 – Protecht Group (“Protecht”), an Australian based global leader in governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions, today announced the acquisition of VISO TRUST, a US-based third-party risk management platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The acquisition marks a significant step in Protecht’s global expansion strategy and cements its position in a market expected to grow at 11.5% CAGR to US$41.7 billion by 20341. The integration of VISO TRUST’s agentic AI capabilities with Protecht’s platform addresses one of the most pressing challenges facing enterprise risk teams today.
Enterprise organisations are expanding their third-party networks faster than they can manage the associated risk. While 83% plan to grow these networks over the next three years, only 18% have fully integrated vendor risk management into their enterprise frameworks2, leaving many exposed as cyber threats increasingly emerge through external partners.
Jason Phillips, CEO of Protecht, said: “The challenge isn’t just the growth in third-party risk, it’s that most organisations are still trying to manage it with fragmented, manual approaches that don’t scale.”
“VISO TRUST’s agentic third-party risk capabilities naturally complement and enhance Protecht’s existing risk management platform to help customers confidently manage risk across their entire enterprise and vendor ecosystems.”
Customers will benefit from a unified solution delivering:
Paul Valente, Co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of VISO TRUST, added: “Enterprise organisations are expanding their third-party vendor networks while facing more sophisticated cyber threats through those same relationships. Yet, most are still managing that risk manually, and that gap is exactly the problem VISO TRUST was built to address.”
“Joining Protecht means we can meet that demand at scale, combining our AI and agent capabilities with a world-class GRC platform, to deliver something genuinely differentiated in the market and for our customers.”
As part of the acquisition, both Paul Valente and Russ Sherman, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, will remain with the business in their existing roles.
This move comes a year after Protecht secured a US$280 million investment from PSG Equity, highlighting the pace at which the company is executing its global growth and expansion strategy.
Watch the short explainer video to see how the VISO TRUST Platform automates at scale and enables teams to access actionable vendor security information in minutes.
VISO TRUST is a leading AI-powered third-party and cyber risk management platform that helps organisations automate and scale risk assessments, reduce manual workload and gain real-time visibility into vendor risk. Trusted by security and risk professionals, VISO TRUST combines powerful analytics and continuous monitoring to deliver actionable insights that strengthen enterprise and supply chain risk programs.
Notes
1 - https://www.imarcgroup.com/global-risk-management-market
2 - https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmgsites/xx/pdf/2026/02/achieving-resilience-in-third-party-risk-management.pdf