Entersoft carries flag for Australia in finals of major Asian accelerator

A leading Brisbane-based cyber security provider is the only Australian company to have been selected to take part in a prestigious Hong Kong-based accelerator program, which aims to help promising start-ups and scale-ups grow in Asia.

On Monday night, Entersoft was selected as one of eight finalists from 200 applicants located in 33 countries who wanted to be part of the SuperCharger FinTech 2.0 initiative in 2017.

Each of the finalists will now participate in a 12-week program, to be held in early next year, which includes bespoke learning and working closely with a network of industry partners and mentors.

It’s a significant win for Entersoft, which was founded by Mohan Gandhi and Paul Kang in early 2014 and has since helped serve some 300 customers, including 10 Fortune 500 companies, 30 fintech companies and 10 startups.

“We are very happy to have been selected for this highly-regarded event, which will help us build our networks and customer base into the growing fintech hubs of Hong Kong, China and Singapore,” Mr Gandhi said.

“We are keen to use this accelerator experience to help position cyber security as an integral part of what is expected to be major growth in the fintech industry in Asia.”

Entersoft is based in Brisbane with offices in Singapore and Bangalore.

The Entersoft difference is that it works to build a security-conscious culture and practice within an organisation, usually by engaging with an organisation’s leadership and driving security through developers.

This sets it apart from other cyber security firms, which typically simply try to deal with the symptoms of a poor security infrastructure through tactical testing and compliance needs.

Entersoft complements this strategic approach with innovative online and person-to-person security testing and bug fixes.

It employs “white hat” hackers who are the best in the business when it comes to penetrating, and finding out the vulnerabilities, of an organisation’s online systems.

“The fintech industry can only exist with a strong cyber security culture and practice and our unique business model seeks to ingrain these elements into our clients,” Mr Kang said.

Entersoft’s approach has seen it receive several awards, with the most recent being the “Best Innovation in Cyber Security and Anti-Fraud” in the Fintech Awards 2016.

“We believe these awards and this week’s selection in this accelerator are an acknowledgement that Entersoft is delivering innovative services and strategic leadership within Australia’s cyber security industry,” Mr Kang said.

Cyber security is a major priority of governments across the world and is also predicted to be a significant growth industry.

A leading analyst has predicted that global spending on cyber security is expected to increase by up to 15 per cent each year in the five years from 2017, as more firms consider security as an investment as distinct to a cost.

What’s more, in April 2016, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a $230 million cyber security strategy, including the creation of a Cyber Security Growth Centre.

In making the announcement, Mr Turnbull stated that some estimates put the costs of cyber crime to Australia as high as $17 billion – equivalent to one per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Janos Barberis, Founder of SuperCharger, said: “SuperCharger is strongly establishing itself as Hong Kong’s leading fintech accelerator.”

“The quality of this year’s cohort is a testament to that and reflects the role our accelerator plays for the sourcing of products, solutions and talent in the financial services industry in this region.”

The eight finalists announced include some of the hottest start-ups and scale-ups in wealth management, regulation technology, artificial intelligence, cyber security and blockchain.

Jared Bezuidenhout, Head of Social Engineering at Entersoft, was in Hong Kong at the announcement of the eight finalists.