Startups Awarded in Cyber Security & Privacy, by EIT ICT Labs

It is a big challenge to protect security and privacy of enormous amounts of data being collected, processed and stored in the cyber space. Lack of timely technical solutions may put at risk privacy and liberty of citizens and may endanger the growth of ICT-enabled products and services, whereas security breaches can have significant negative impact on people’s lives, jobs and property. The existing gaps between currently available techniques and the situation in practice should be filled by innovative solutions following the "privacy & security by design" paradigm.

This can stimulate innovative applications, e.g. related to social networks, e-payment, e-voting, e-health, smart spaces and smart energy, as well as cloud computing, big data and Internet of Things. Special attention should be devoted to privacy-preserving digital identity management, user profiling, intrusion detection and prevention and protection against malicious software, especially for mobile platforms and applications.

From 479 teams across the EU that applied for the Idea Challenge in autumn, 230 ideas addressed the topics Internet of things and Cyber Security & Privacy. On November 13th, the best 21 startups in these two categories were invited to present their ideas at pitch finals in Trento and Stockholm. At these events, which were initiated by EIT ICT Labs and its partners Trento Rise and STING, a jury consisting of industry experts, investors, business accelerators, and entrepreneurs selected the best six teams based on the quality of innovation and their respective business model.

EIT ICT Labs is one of the first Knowledge and Innovation Communities set up by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, as an initiative of the European Union. By linking education, research and business, EIT ICT Labs empowers ICT top talents for the future and brings ICT innovations to life. EIT ICT Labs’ partners represent global companies, leading research centres, and top ranked universities in the field of ICT.

Cyber Security & Privacy

First place, 40.000 €: CHINO - from Italy - provides safe and regulatory compliant data storage for mobile health applications, giving to application developers the opportunity to focus on users' needs.

Second place, 25.000 €: Cleafy - from Italy - defends and certifies web-page source-code integrity in real time.

Third place, 15.000 €: Sentryo - from France - protects critical industrial networks against cyber attacks and provides network managers with full awareness over the situation.