Indian origin cybersecurity startups seek Singapore funding

Two Indian-origin cybersecurity startups are planning to expand their base to Singapore and are in talks for funding with investors in the city-state for their concepts on preventing cyber attacks.

Seconize, which was formed in Bangaluru in 2017, recently set up its office in Singapore for expansion across Asia Pacific and has already secured support from Singapore telecom giant Singtel and National University of Singapore (NUS) Enterprise.

The startup enables enterprises to manage their cyber risks through its continuous predictive risk intelligence product.

Damages to businesses by each cyber attack could be as high as USD 4 million, Chetan Anand, CEO & Co-Founder of Seconize, said.

The company's proof of concept has been tried out by a large Indian enterprise, said Anand, who pitched for investment at the Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem at BLOCK71 (ICE71) Accelerated Demo Day in Singapore on Wednesday.

Seconize is among the top in the NASSCOM list of 10,000 startups and recognized by the Data Security Council of India.

Similarly, the other startup Blue Phish Blue Phish is an e-Learning platform that localises micro-modules in all major languages and enables companies to reduce their cyber risk and meet compliance standards.

It assesses and trains the workforce in cybersecurity awareness, building human firewalls, said its co-founder, Shaily Shah.

Shah, a Canadian citizen, along with British national of Indian origin Narinder Kaur Bual and Sindhu Nair from Kerala have been building Blue Phish since 2017.

They are in the process of setting up development offices in India, Vietnam and Malaysia.

ICE71 advances cybersecurity innovation in Asia, presenting 10 start-ups at its second ICE71 Accelerate Demo Day'.

Cybersecurity is among the key pillars supporting Singapore's Smart Nation ambitions. It is therefore crucial for our people, businesses and enterprises to be well protected in today's digital environment, said Freddy Boey, Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise) of NUS.

The key to supporting the nation's ambitions lies in driving cybersecurity innovation and encouraging more enterprising cybersecurity entrepreneurs and start-ups to make Singapore their home, he said.

Over 200 investors attended the event which also had startups from Singapore, Turkey, Vietnam, UK and the US.

The latest cohort of start-ups was chosen to participate in the three-month ICE71 Accelerate programme, supporting the development and acceleration of their growth, Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8, said.

"Increasingly, enterprises and governments need to work more closely with start-ups to address the frequency, scale, and sophistication of cyber threats globally, he said.

Hardless said that they aim to accelerate the growth of these startups by connecting them to leading investors, enterprises and government agencies.

This strengthens Singapore's cybersecurity ecosystem and positions the country as the leading regional cybersecurity hub. This also creates a conducive environment for the roll-out of new and innovative technologies which can power Singapore's Smart Nation goals, he said.