Announcing the Fall 2018 Cohort of Startups in Dreamit SecureTech
Seven startups were accepted into the inaugural program, led by Managing Director Bob Stasio
This week, we announced the startups accepted into our twenty-fifth cohort of companies. We chose 18 startups from over 1,300 applications to participate in the Fall 2018 cohort. Seven of these startups will make up the first cohort in Dreamit’s new SecureTech program.
Launched in June 2018, Dreamit SecureTech has three focus areas: Logical focuses on hardware and software-based cybersecurity products; Physical focuses on mitigating threats to people and property; and Social focuses on the dimension of human communication such as fraud, social media/fake news, and information warfare.
Bob Stasio, most recently Chief of Operations at IBM’s X-Force Command Center, is the Managing Director of Dreamit SecureTech. Stasio has a strong track record in cyber and physical security, having led teams in both the private and public sectors, as well as the intelligence community and the military.
Program Manager Cameron Watts works alongside Stasio and is responsible for spearheading operations of the SecureTech vertical, aiding in the implementation of Dreamit curriculum, and connecting startups with the Dreamit network of industry experts, corporate partners, program alumni, and potential customers. Prior to Dreamit, Cameron served as a U.S. Army Ranger for 6 years and held roles in venture capital and private equity.
During the 14-week Dreamit SecureTech program, founders access extensive customer, industry, and investor networks. During two weeks of Dreamit Customer Immersions, securetech startups will meet with CISO and CSO security leadership at top banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, government, and military organizations (full list here). As Dreamit’s focus during acceleration is to have startups close their next round within six months after the program, the capstone is a 2-week bi-coastal curated Investor Roadshow where securetech startups meet one-on-one with interested investors.
After evaluating hundreds of applications, several trends emerged that point to how security technology will evolve in the coming years:
- More startups are bringing “military-grade” products to commercial markets and taking analytics and methodology from the intelligence community and bringing them into the enterprise.
- Multi-authentication and password replacement solutions continue to be a focus area for security startups and more products are utilizing “dynamic biometrics,” which measure changes in biometrics over time as an improvement on standard biometrics.
- Machine learning is enabling startups to mine dark web data to empower networks to defend themselves against attacks before they occur.
- Cybersecurity training is becoming a necessity for corporates as the majority of data breaches come from human error, as opposed to direct attacks.
Dreamit is entering a sector witnessing strong global startup growth working to combat the nearly unending surge of cybercrime and other security threats.
“We are excited by the volume and strength of SecureTech startups looking to get into Dreamit from around the world. This cohort of seven represent some of the best-of-the-best securetech startups,” stated Steve Barsh, Managing Partner of Dreamit Ventures. “Each one is solving difficult and critical security issues for the public and private sector, and we look forward to helping them grow, gain customers, and raise their next round.”
Meet the SecureTech Startups:
90% of preventable military deaths are due to hemorrhage. ARMR enables every one of the 2M U.S. Service members and global forces to increase survivability with the world’s first persistent, wearable high junctional tourniquet system. Designed for quick application in under 30 seconds, the device can be immediately available for multilateral wound care and can be integrated into almost all commercially available armour systems. armrsystems.com
There will be an expected 3.5M unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the U.S. by 2021; it continues to grow increasingly more challenging to recruit cyber talent, validate skills, and maintain cutting-edge knowledge. Cyber Skyline provides a cloud-based platform that distributes technical evaluation, aggregates performance metrics, and tracks performance and growth by providing users with a single score and ranking that can be compared across specific skills within a group, company or an entire industry. cyberskyline.com
A shortage of qualified talent, skills, technical complexity, and the threat landscape continue to drive automation and outsourcing. In 2018, it is estimated that companies will spend $18.5B on outsourcing security services, resulting in an 11% increase since 2017. Cybri offers an exclusive marketplace of vetted cybersecurity experts available on demand. Services provided include CISO on Demand, Pen-Testing, Network Security Monitoring, and Incident Response. cybri.com
CyR3con (Cyber Reconnaissance) predicts cyber attacks before they occur using proprietary technology designed to uniquely address each customer’s threat landscape. By prioritizing vulnerabilities and leveraging machine learning, multi-sourced diligence, and advanced dark web scanning, the platform proactively predicts threats with award-winning precision. cyr3con.com
Studies show that 91% of all data breaches start with social engineering attacks. Graphus automates protection against these attacks, using a portal where end-users don’t need to install any software, plugins, or end-point agent. Graphus integrates with Office 365, G Suite, and Microsoft Exchange through API’s and monitors inbound, outbound, and internal messages. Once a threat is detected, the Active-Warning-Banner will apply “self-governing” to investigate and initiate an active response. graphus.com
Enterprise companies manage tens of thousands of vendors while not understanding the risk and full process when running their compliance assessment processes. On average, compliance assessment takes 6–8 weeks. JustProtect can reduce that time to just one day, using a platform that focuses on behavioral analytics and analyzing potential discrepancies. By providing tools to identify risks, alongside AI that suggests mitigation decisions more efficiently and effectively, JustProtect disperses workload amongst best-suited individuals while streamlining continual compliance assessments to meet regulatory requirements via a SaaS model. justprotect.co
SignPass aims to rid the world of passwords, a security measure that is outdated and is the entry point for 63% of all cyber attacks. Most biometric authentication methods only add more risk to this problem by using private, irreplaceable user data as a security token. SignPass solves all of this with an elegant, secure solution that is built for user privacy and ease of use by identifying users’ handwritten passwords. SignPass offers an authentication service that integrates into existing applications running on mobile, PC, POS, ATM or card-not-present platforms. sign-pass.com
