Kaspersky Open Innovation Program winners annnounced

The winners of Kaspersky’s Open Innovation Program

Together with these innovative projects, a globally recognised vendor will create and develop new business opportunities in the field of cybersecurity for industries of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), transportation, blockchain and anti-fraud.

As a global cybersecurity company, Kaspersky is focused on innovations and believes in the need for new ideas and solutions in these markets to combat growing threats. Earlier this year, the company launched the call to startups, which has seen growing businesses from all over the globe apply, to prove the potential of their products or technologies to solve concrete cybersecurity use cases.

Kaspersky received 258 applications in total, from 49 countries across all six continents – among them, five from the META region. But only 12 startups, including those from Israel, Spain, England, Ireland, Singapore, Germany and France, reached the final and presented their projects to the jury of experts on a Demo Day in Milan, Italy. The jury included experts from Kaspersky, as well as representatives from the venture capital firm Mangrove Capital Partners, and the premier global provider of market intelligence, International Data Corporation (IDC).

Following this process, four projects were selected as overall winners – one from each of the following areas: Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Transportation, Blockchain and Anti-fraud Technology.

“In today’s society, it is necessary to find ready-made products and create joint solutions to achieve a synergistic effect. As a result, we are focused on testing many business hypotheses in the market and delivering faster and better solutions that meet customers’ cybersecurity needs. We are pleased to collaborate with innovative tech-based startups to help achieve this goal, and contribute to the development of the cybersecurity industry together,” said Alexander Moiseev, chief business officer at Kaspersky.

“We are entering the chapter of multiplied innovation where the new scale of digital platforms and pace of change dictates a new role for security. Now we are enablers of transformation and guarantors of the digital trust that underpins business value,” commented Konstantin Rychkov, research manager at IDC.

Collaborative efforts

By winning the call, these four startups have the opportunity to work on joint business cases with a globally recognised cybersecurity brand. In the event of successful validation of these business cases, the startups will be able to collaborate with Kaspersky on a global scale.

In turn, Kaspersky will complement its portfolio with innovative products and technologies to develop better solutions that meet its customers’ cybersecurity needs.

The work with selected startups will be carried out through one of three scenarios: a joint product launch to the market, through Kaspersky’s channel and without branding; a technological alliance powered by Kaspersky; or a pilot project where a startup’s product will be launched jointly with Kaspersky’s solutions to one of the markets. The best approach will be taken based on each individual startup.

“In a constantly changing world, customer needs are rapidly evolving. Kaspersky aims to meet these growing demands by delivering innovative cybersecurity solutions and supporting growing businesses in the industry. To this end, we launched the first call to startups under the Kaspersky Open Innovation Program. A lot of work has taken place since then, and we are excited to start working with the best startups and to undertake the interesting process of joint business development,” commented Vitaly Mzokov, head of Innovation Hub at Kaspersky.

The Demo Day was held during the Kaspersky Open Innovation Summit – the first big event related to the Innovation Hub that focuses on finding new business growth opportunities, working with external startups and the venture ecosystem. The Innovation Hub was established to develop and maintain the innovation management process that fosters collaboration between the company and brilliant minds – both internally and externally. It is aimed at nurturing break-through projects, and is focused on identifying new trends, discovering new markets, scouting for best-in-class startups and building technological alliances.