RSA® Conference, the world’s leading information security conferences and expositions, today releases the names of three security innovators that will participate in the first-ever RSAC Launch Pad, an event designed to give burgeoning cybersecurity talent a platform to share their industry solutions. These companies will have the opportunity to pitch their new business to three high-profile venture capitalists (VCs) in a live, Shark Tank®-style format. If the VCs believe in the company’s solution, participants may receive VC funding and/or mentorship support.
The selected companies (in alphabetical order) are:
NuID
NuID is a pioneer in trustless authentication and decentralized digital identity. NuID’s solution uses zero knowledge cryptography and blockchain technology to remove the need for businesses to store passwords. Its mission is to end mass credential breaches by returning data ownership to the user.
Spherical Defence
Spherical Defence is backed by the British Intelligence GCHQ Cyber Accelerator and is building a product for application-layer anomaly detection on internal and external networks powered by deep learning and NLP. Spherical learns tree objects and sessions completely unsupervised and is working with the largest Silicon Valley tech companies.
Styra
Styra enables enterprises to define, enforce and validate security across their Kubernetes environments. Its Declarative Authorization Service provides a graphical library of customizable policies – all based on dynamic context – to mitigate risks, reduce human error and accelerate development.
The finalists were selected by the participating VCs earlier this year from a pool of applicants meeting participation requirements, including being incorporated for two years or less, privately held with no revenue and having no more than a first round of funding. In addition, the participant’s products must not be available for commercial sale to the public on or before RSA Conference 2019.
“We’re continuing to expand the innovation program at RSAC to reach entrepreneurs at all stages in their career, at all levels of product development and from every corner of the globe. With the growing Early Stage Expo, the half-day Innovator and Entrepreneur Seminar, the Innovation Sandbox Contest and the addition of RSAC Launch Pad, we’re striving to give creative thinkers and entrepreneurs the preeminent platform they need to gain exposure and make a lasting change on our industry,” said Sandra Toms, Vice President and Curator of RSA Conference. “The expanding emphasis on innovation at RSA Conference illustrates our commitment to bringing wide varieties of people, content and ideas to the table to address the growing cyberthreat around the world.”
On Tuesday, March 5, the startups will have 10 minutes to convince leading security VCs Theresia Gouw, co-founder of Aspect Ventures, Enrique Salem, partner at Bain Capital Ventures, and Ted Schlein, managing and general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, of their groundbreaking ideas.
“Our goal with RSAC Launch Pad is to give young companies and entrepreneurs a springboard to launch their innovative solutions to the most pertinent and pressing challenges in cybersecurity today,” said Enrique Salem, partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “We all look forward to the annual RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest, which has propelled countless successful startups. But there’s also a growing number of earlier-stage startups – ones that have no revenue and no more than a first round of funding. As an industry, we need to give these founders at the earliest stages of innovation a platform to share their ideas and gain the support needed to turn them into full-scale cybersecurity businesses.”
The event will be hosted at the Marriott Marquis in The Sandbox (Yerba Buena 8) and is open to all RSA Conference attendees. Doors will open at 3:50 PM on March 5 and the pitches will begin at 4:05 PM.
More information regarding RSA Conference 2019 can be found at: www.rsaconference.com.
About RSA Conference
RSA® Conference is the premier series of global events and onDemand programs where the world talks security and leadership gathers, advances and emerges. Whether attending in the U.S., the EMEA region, the Asia-Pacific region or online, RSA Conference events are where the security industry converges to discuss current and future concerns and get access to the people, content and ideas that help enable individuals and companies to win, grow and do their best. It’s about bringing all people in the cybersecurity industry together and empowering the collective “we” of the cybersecurity industry to stand against cyberthreats around the world. RSA Conference is the ultimate marketplace for the latest technologies and hands-on educational opportunities that help industry professionals discover how to make their companies more secure while showcasing the most enterprising, influential and thought-provoking thinkers and leaders in security today. For information on events, online programming and the most up-to-date news pertaining to the information security industry visit www.rsaconference.com.
