New cyber security venture from School with record of successful spin-outs
A new Edinburgh Napier project aims to bring trust and transparency to the software supply chain, as the School of Computing continues its drive to translate innovative research into real world impact.
The TrueDeploy venture has received £73,418 funding from Scottish Enterprise, as part of its High Growth Spin-out Programme (HGSP), to help develop the project’s innovative technology.
In setting its sights on the multi-billion pound industry to secure software development supply chains, TrueDeploy is following in the footsteps of Edinburgh Napier cyber security spin-outs ZoneFox, Symphonic Software, Cyan Forensics and MemCrypt which have already successfully made the leap from research lab to market.
The software supply chain relates to the development and supply of software for use across all organisations and systems. This supply chain needs to be managed by organisations that use software due to regulatory requirements and the obligations to ensure their systems are not compromised.
Recent high-profile cyber-attacks, including SolarWinds, Kaseya, and NotPetya, have cost companies and nation-states billions of dollars. Each of these attacks had the same underlying issue, in that they were possible because a threat actor managed to infiltrate and compromise software that was being developed by a software vendor in the long chain that exists from code being written to it being distributed to a customer.
Potential future spin-out TrueDeploy, which aims to resolve these issues by bringing transparency to the software supply chain, has been developed by a technical team led by research student Pavlos Papadopoulos (top picture).
He is working alongside the School of Computing’s Dr Nick Pitropakis and seasoned cyber security innovator Professor Bill Buchanan. The technical team will be supported on the project by a core business team of Nanik Ramchandani (Imagine Ventures) and Matthew Burdge (Business Development & Relationship Manager, School of Computing).
With Scottish Enterprise’s support, the team is aiming to develop their innovative technology over the next nine months.
Pavlos Papadopoulos, whose research work is focused on privacy-preserving systems around trust and identity, said: “We are thankful to Edinburgh Napier and Scottish Enterprise for their continuous support. This funding is the first step in bringing this innovation to reality.”
Nanik Ramchandani (pictured) added: “We sincerely appreciate the support provided by Scottish Enterprise to the start-up ecosystem in Scotland. This support will help us identify the ideal commercial opportunity for TrueDeploy’s ground-breaking innovation.”
Victoria Carmichael, director of strategic investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Cyber security is a major issue facing society today and this project has the potential to be hugely impactful. Our High Growth Spin-out Programme helps turn innovative university research into successful business ventures. To date we’ve supported four cyber security spin outs from Edinburgh Napier, with TrueDeploy becoming the fifth, which speaks volumes about the university’s academic and commercial capabilities.”
Fiona Mason, Head of Business Engagement and IP Commercialisation at Edinburgh Napier, said: “We are thrilled to receive this recognition from Scottish Enterprise on another exciting venture arising from our cyber group. The project has benefitted from seed funding, and the inventor has worked closely with both the Business Development support, Matthew Burdge, and our Royal Society-funded Entrepreneur-in Residence, Jamie Graves, to develop the project to the high standard required by SE.
“We value the long-term platform the funding provides, both in terms of project development but also the access to networks, training and mentoring support.”