CipherCloud Inc. became the second cloud security startup to announce an eight-figure funding round this week after revealing on Wednesday that it has raised $50 million from a group of prominent investors to make the public cloud safer for storing sensitive corporate data. The financing comes hot on the heels of Veradocs Inc. exiting stealth with $14 million in funding to help organizations regulate the use of company files outside the boundaries of the corporate firewall.

CipherCloud is touting a similar line, except its definition of security extends far beyond merely providing remote access controls. The San Jose, Calif.-based company hit the scene three years ago, long before Veradocs and most of its other competitors, with a service promising to encrypt information as it leaves the four walls of a data center in such a way that doesn’t restrict the activity of workers.

That balance between security and user experience is achieved through a unique combination of techniques that quickly rocketed CipherCloud from startup obscurity to enterprise fame, earning it the praises of analysts and more than 11 million users around the world along the way. The company has also exploited that head start to expand its value proposition with analytic functionality not unlike what founding CEO Pravin Kothari (above) worked on at his previous venture, ArcSight Inc., which he sold to Hewlett-Packard Co. for a massive $2.5 billion in 2010.

Today, CipherCloud boasts what it calls the industry’s only complete cloud security platform. The firm offers to help organizations not only to prevent unauthorized access to corporate files but also to track how each employee uses data in order to identify potential insider threats that might slip through the external-facing defenses.

To that end, CipherCloud allows customers to define specific rules dictating who can access which applications and files under what conditions and ensure compliance with a wide range of regulatory standards spanning industries and countries. Integration with popular cloud services such as Salesforce.com and Google Apps automatically extends that functionality to where users perform their work, adding an edge of convenience to an already well-rounded package.

CipherCloud is banking on that breadth and its customer momentum to differentiate from the new crop of cloud security startups that emerged over the last 12 months with similar functionality but without the scope and maturity of platform. The new $50 million infusion from Transamerica Ventures, Delta Ventures and existing investors is meant to expand that advantage going into 2015. The company plans to invest the capital, which brings its total raised to $80 million, in accelerating product development efforts and scale its presence across Europe and Asia Pacific.