The Victorian Government has unveiled
the startups that have been selected to participate in Australia’s first cyber
security accelerator program – CyRise.
CyRise is jointly backed by Deakin University, Dimension
Data, and LaunchVic – Victoria’s AU$60
million startup development agency. CyRise received AU$450,000 in August 2016
to deliver a cyber security accelerator program from LaunchVic’s first funding
round.
Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip
Dalidakis announced the group which includes Brooklyn Dynamics, CYDARM,
NetCrypt and Cybercitadel.
The group of startups will participate in an intensive
six-month program and be challenged to condense two years’ worth of growth into
that six months. Each startup will receive AU$50,000 to support initial
validation, product development, growth and scaling.
Participants will work alongside Deakin University
researchers with tech expertise and travel to Israel and the US – two countries
that are recognised around the world for their cyber security strengths.
Minister for Innovation and the Digital Economy Philip
Dalidakis said, “CyRise is supporting
the development of some the country’s most talented digital and cyber security
startups right here in Victoria. 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.”
CyRise CEO, Scott Handsaker, said, “CyRise aims to provide mentoring from some of the country’s leading
innovators and technology experts and expose them to the competitive cyber
security sector so they are inspired to think big and achieve great things.”
The State
Government of Victoria is providing strong backing to establish the state as a hub of cyber security
infrastructure. Since last year, there have been announcement of the
establishment of CSIRO’s Data61 Cybersecurity Innovation Hub,
the Oceania Cyber Security Centre,
the collaboration with Oxford University’s Global
Cyber Security Capability Centre, and a Melbourne-based node of the
Commonwealth Government’s Cyber Growth Centre in Victoria. Recently, the
Victorian government announced an investment of AU$1
million for Deakin University’s Bachelor of Cyber Security, which has been used
to develop the degree and for industry certification licences, ensuring
rigorous standards are met.
