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Source: Zoonar GmbH via Alamy Stock Photo
Continuous security assessment platform newcomer Frenos narrowly edged out the competition to win this year's DataTribe Challenge, held by seed-stage venture capital firm DataTribe.
Four finalists were chosen from hundreds of pre-seed and seed stage cybersecurity and data science startups, and each got to present their case during Wednesday's Challenge Finalists Event. In addition to splitting part of a $25,000 prize, finalists were given the opportunity to present their business to a panel of judges, investors and industry leaders. Finalists also received one-on-one messaging and strategy coaching from DataTribe.
When evaluating the finalists, whether the company has the right team in place — and if they're truly experts in their field — plays a big part, says DataTribe's chief innovation officer Leo Scott. The judges also evaluate the addressable market for each company’s offering and how well they meet that need.
Frenos, based in Charlotte, N.C., has both.
The startup created a zero-impact, continuous security assessment platform for operational technology environments, giving OT organizations the ability to perform attack simulations and penetration testing.
"They are truly leading experts in the OT environment," Scott says. "And if you look into the geopolitical landscape, it is a pretty important space, from broad national security to literally keeping the lights on."
The list of finalists include Austin, Tex.-based DataMonstr, New Jersey-based Force Field, and San Francisco-based Validia.
DataMonstr provides protection to the developer environment, both at developer endpoints and at the source code repository level.
Force Field offers a system to verify the authenticity of photos, videos and audio to reduce fraud in areas like insurance claims.
Validia provides real-time identify verification to combat deepfakes and impersonation in remote work environments.
For Brian Proctor, founder and CEO of Frenos, participating in the competition has helped the company on its road to landing seed funding.
"One of the great things about it, which we really liked, is that every finalist is assigned an advisor from DataTribe. So they really work hand in hand with you to refine the pitch, get feedback on your presentation," says Proctor. "We had an excellent advisor, David, who was part of our team. Honestly, without David, I'm not sure what the outcome would have been. He was a huge help."
DataTribe has invested in eight of the finalists of its six previous competitions, and more than 20 companies have received funding after participating in the competition, Scott says.
Check out what DataTribe's Leo Scott had to say regarding the DataTribe Challenge in this Dark Reading News Desk segment from Black Hat USA 2024.