Cyber security specialists, Brooklyn Dynamics, NetCrypt and Cybercitadel are among the local tech start-ups to be granted entry into CyRise, a new accelerator program backed by Dimension Data.
The cyber security accelerator program, which the Victorian Government claims is the first of its kind, is based in Melbourne, and is backed by major partners, Dimension Data, Deakin University and LaunchVic – Victoria’s $60 million startup development agency.
CyRise received $450,000 in August 2016 to deliver a cyber security accelerator program from LaunchVic’s first funding round.
On 31 October, the state Government unveiled the start-ups that have been selected to participate in the accelerator program.
Victoria’s Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy, Philip Dalidakis, named security and threat analysis provider, Brooklyn Dynamics, software-as-a-service (SaaS) data security solution provider, NetCrypt, Cybercitadel and CYDARM among those to have been accepted into the program.
The selection of the start-ups comes just days after a pitch event in Melbourne.
The group of early-stage tech companies will participate in an intensive six-month program, with each start-up set to receive $50,000 to support initial validation, product development, growth and scaling.
Participants will also get to work alongside Deakin University researchers and travel to Israel and the United States, as part of the program.
The new start-up intake comes as Australia’s governments, both on a federal and a state level, work to boost their respective markets’ cyber security standing.
“CyRise is supporting the development of some the country’s most talented digital and cyber security startups right here in Victoria,” Dalidakis said. “Cyber security is one of the world’s fastest growing technology sectors. It will be a huge part of our future economy and support countless jobs.”
Local cyber security innovation is not only a prime focus for the Victorian Government, with Australia’s Federal Government positioning itself to lead the charge.
In September, the Federal Government, local private sector players and research organisations pledged to pool more than $139 million worth of investment into a new cyber security cooperative research centre (CRC).
The Government revealed on 22 September that it will invest $50 million over the next seven years to establish the Cyber Security CRC, the latest such cooperative research centre in the Government’s initiative to better collaborate with industry.
The move came almost 18 months after the Federal Government unveiled its Cyber Security Strategy, which was loaded with 33 cyber security initiatives worth around $231.1 million.
