As we return to the office after our Christmas break and begin to plan for 2024, it’s timely that we reflect on the growth that was achieved by our team in 2023. Time moves so quickly in the start-up world and it seems like yesterday when we set our 2023 targets after winning the ‘Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn New Start’ category for Connacht and Leinster in late 2022. We entered 2023 with determination to build on our successes to date and the desire to bring our software product (CYBRISC) into the wider market.
Milestones & Achievements:
Team Growth:
We we’re delighted to add to our team again in 2023. Many of our customers have gotten to know Dylan on our support desk. Dylan brings expertise in hardware and has a keen interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI). He’s the lead behind some of the new inhouse technologies we have added to help us delivered superior customer service. Leo Camacho return to work with us taking up a summer internship during his break from Edinburgh University. Leo was part of the successful Edinburgh University Formula Student team, which competed in and won the FS-AI 2023 competition. He has a keen interest in cybersecurity and software development and we wish Leo every success in his studies as he returns to University.
Guest Speaker:
This year we were given the opportunity to share our thoughts and knowledge with like-minded professionals in the industry. We delivered sessions on the changing landscape of cyber-insurance and the challenges faced by SMEs in securing policies to colleagues at the ISACA Ireland conference in April. In June we briefed fellow Managed Service Providers (MSPs) at the Infinigate Partner Day in Leopardstown on the risks surrounding disclosure when completing security questionnaire on behalf of their customers who were availing of cyber insurance. During the International Cyber Expo 2023 (#ICE23), we took to the Tech Hub stage to debate the role cyber insurance has on determining the security posture of SMEs. The expo was attended by more than 6,000 participants resulting in a number of new partnerships which we will develop in 2024. Finally, we we’re thrill to speak with the MA Accounting students at the DCU Business School thanks to an invite from Dr Caroline McGroary. These students will be the future Chief Financial Officers who will have responsibility for managing risk (including cyber) in some of the largest businesses in Ireland.
Trade shows and expos:
We returned to Insurtech Insights in March 2023 to learn more about the challenges and developments in the world of cyber insurance. The conference attracts world leading experts in the insurance industry and provides a springboard for insurtech start-ups to network and showcase their exiting and innovative solutions. CyberUK , the flagship cyber expo and conference delivered by the UK government, was hosted in Belfast in April 2023. Our team were excited the be one of ten companies to be selected to take part in the Innovation Zone. In September, we exhibited in the Start-up Zone at the International Cyber Expo in London. The two day Expo was a joint event which also showcased the International Security Expo. Finally, in November, we joined the Boston Pathfinder delegation, travelling to Boston to explore US markets. The Pathfinder programme was a delivered by Catalyst in Northern Ireland and involved 10 start-ups from the North West region taking part in an intensive weeklong bootcamp with colleagues from Cambridge Innovation Centre (CIC) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). We continue to develop partnerships made during the visit.
Tech Development:
As many of our customers will know, we have been actively working on a new software (CYBRISC) for the SME market. CYBRISC has been specifically designed for non-technical business owners to help them actively manage their cyber risk. CYBRISC acts as a single pane to help business owners view all of their security solutions simultaneously, whilst alerting the business owner to potential threats and vulnerabilities within their network, which can be remediate to help prevent a cyber incident. We have been working with insurance partners so that CYBRISC customers can use their security score as part of the risk profiling process involved in underwriting, and consequently get access to fairer priced cyber insurance as a result. CYBRISC will now become known as ‘ITUS Protect’ following allocation of our Trademark in the UK and Europe.
2023 has seen significant work with our development team, with a redesign of our user interface (UI) and an enhancement of our platform. We travelled to Poland to undertake workshops with the team and we are delighted to announce that ‘ITUS Protect’ will be launched to the wider market in 2024.
Awards and recognition:
We are thrilled to announce that 2023 saw further endorsement from industry for our company and ITUS Protect. In April, we won the CyberDen pitch competition hosted by the NCSC (UK). The competition involved the top 10 most innovative cyber start-ups pitch for the opportunity to work with the NCSC. We were in awe to be shortlisted among the amazing start-ups including Bilic, CyberCyte, D-RON Goldilock , KETS Quantum Security, Quantum Dice, Sitehop Visible, WCKDRZR and were humbled to be chosen as the winner. In September we joined the prestigious Cyber Runway Grow cohort, having completed the launch stage in 2022. Cyber Runway is a launchpad for cyber start-ups throughout the UK and has seen significant successes with alumni including Exalens and Riskledger. Finally, our year ended on a high having been included in the ‘Ireland’s Top 100 Most Ambitious Companies’ list by Spark Crowdfunding. The list includes a number of colleagues who have joined us on our journey over the past few years including Emotionise, Biologit Anewmum, Soothing solutions (Tonstix), Luminate Medical and Bonafi.
2024: Building on the foundation
We may be small in number, but we have big plans and high expectations for 2024. We’ll be launching ITUS Protect in the coming months. Look out for our new website and follow our socials to keep up to date with our progress as we approach go-live day. If you would like to get early access to ITUS Protect, simply get in contact with our team. We’ll continue to nourish and grow the partnerships we have developed in 2023 to look forward to all of the new encounters, conversations and friendships yet to be discovered. Finally, we’re aiming to close out our pre-seed funding round soon so if you’d like to join our journey as an early stage investor, we’d love to hear from you. 2023 simply could not have happened without the advice, guidance and honest input from our customers, supporters and investors to date. We look forward to working with you all as our journey continues.