This startup builder tackles cyber security with army experience

Cyber security has always been one of the more obscure topics of the tech industry, deemed the inscrutable domain of hacking gurus. Now it’s coming to the mainstream as cyber security means more to the layperson than just protecting a computer from viruses. Hacking stories are in the forefront, from compromised election campaigns to companies and governments losing tons of money and credibility because of security risks.

This is why Tel Aviv-based Team8 came together. The Israeli startup was founded in 2013 by Nadav Zafrir, Israel Grimberg, and Liran Grinberg to address the growing threat of cyber attacks. The team decided the way to do that was to nurture and build new startups that created innovative security products.

“The state of cyber security wasn’t what it is right now but it was obvious it was going to get worse,” Zafrir, Team8 CEO, tells Tech in Asia. “There were basic things missing: cyber security companies didn’t consider the attacker’s perspective and faced a lack of resources.” This made their solutions niche and shallow in terms of technology, he explains.

Startup building
 

To address these challenges, the company works like an incubator but only builds one company per year. The 12- to 18-month process involves working with each company founder to do market research, ideation, and validation. Then it makes a first investment of $5 million in the new startup, which becomes part of Team8’s stable.

Zafrir feels this singular focus helps achieve better results. “It’s better to stay focused and do one a year. It’s very cumbersome to find the right people and technology,” he says. In fact, the lack of scalability is one weakness in Team8’s model, he muses.

This is an excerpt from the aritcle published on Tech In Asia. You can read the full article here