Even though top cloud vendors such as Salesforce.com Inc. and Box Inc. provide a great deal of security functionality with their services, protecting data that resides beyond the corporate firewall remains an immensely difficult task. The challenge therefor represents a significant revenue opportunity for file management startups like Seclore Technology Pvt Ltd., which raised $12 million as part of a funding round announced this morning to step up its monetization efforts.

The Mumbai-based outfit claims to have already achieved 83 percent revenue growth last year on the back of new deals with Global 5000 companies in the technology, manufacturing and financial services markets, to name a few. Among its most notable customers are General Electric Co.’s venture capital arm and the $100-billion-plus Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate. One of the main reasons why Seclore’s software is so popular among the enterprise crowd is the fact that its service makes it possible to regulate data access across practically any medium on which corporate documents are kept.

That includes everything from popular cloud-based collaboration platforms to employees’ mobile devices. According to Seclore’s website, customers can even control data stored on USB flash drives. Activity is regulated through a centralized interface that makes it possible to restrict file usage based on worker roles and then set a series of security conditions that authorized users must meet before accessing their documents. Administrators are thus able to ensure that a sensitive financial report doesn’t leave the accounting department’s Box folder, or disable copy and paste functionality in a spreadsheet containing exclusive lead data.

From there, every attempt to bypass Seclore’s controls is displayed in its management console within seconds of detection, which enables organizations to address potential security breaches before too much damage can be done. The service also makes it possible to record legitimate access requests for auditing purposes, an equally big priority in some of the more heavily regulated industries that the outfit targets.

Yet despite the broad feature set of its service, Seclore still face uphill battle against newer file access management providers such as Vera Inc. and Bitglass Inc., both of which have raised considerably more outside funding . Today’s investment should help level the playing field somewhat and put the firm in a better position to take advantage of the growing demand for cloud security software. Given the fact that most of the customers listed on its site are located in Asia and Europe, at least some of the new cash will likely be devoted to expanding its U.S. presence.

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