Kromek Security wins Global Security Challenge competition in London
The award is in recognition of the challenges young, innovative security companies face in their goals for success. The global finals were held at the London Business School and attended by worldwide security professionals, Venture Capitalists and industry representatives
Opened by the Dean of London Business School, the keynote speech was provided by Robert Hannigan, security advisor to the Prime Minister and Head of Security Intelligence and Resilience for the UK Government. Kromek beat finalists from Australia, the US and Spain in a competition which saw over 200 applicants from the opening rounds. Kromek entered the final as the winner of the Western European GSC competition.
As Security SME of the year, Kromek will receive $400,000 from the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) department of the US government, the national research and development arm for combating terrorism at home and abroad. The company will also receive indispensable mentorship from leading venture capitalists such as Chris Winter, of New Venture Partners and the opportunity to work with the US's key security officials and industry leaders.
"It's an amazing achievement to be named as the Security SME of 2009 at this year's GSC awards," said Arnab Basu, CEO, Kromek. "The award represents an important validation for Kromek's technology and a valuable boost to our funding, which will help to develop our range of security products. Winning this category reflects the extent to which the company is pushing technological boundaries and setting a pace for the industry, worldwide."
The event was sponsored among others by Smiths Detection, BAE Systems and Accenture. The judging panel chaired by Dr John Morgan of TSWG consisted of a range of international Venture Capitalists and investors. The judges recognised the potential of Kromek's technology and IP strategy, which clearly provides the company a strong base to build on.
Within the Best Security SME category, the GSC looks for those businesses developing technology that could be applied to meeting the needs of public security – including technology that can help to protect people, infrastructure and facilities against terrorist and other criminal attacks or provides governments, businesses and communities with the technology needed to defend or manage such attacks.
The founders of the GSC, Janeen Chupa and Simon Schneider, commented: "We are proud of all the contenders in this year's GSC. After multiple judging rounds, our independent panel of judges choose Kromek from amongst the hundreds of applicants as the winner of our Best Security SME competition. We expect Kromek to significantly add to the discussion of security innovation and to become another success story. The GSC is an effective launch pad for security technologies and, to date, top contenders have acquired over $57 million dollars in new funding after participating."
