CyberASAP Market Validation Bootcamp Review

Converting academic research into commercially viable products and services can be a real challenge. Not just because the £8.9billion UK market for cybersecurity (according to the Government’s latest 2021 Cyber Sectoral Analysis report) is fiercely competitive, but also because it requires academics to embrace new tools and skills to fully develop their ideas, and test and exploit their marketability.

This is where CyberASAP comes in, lending expertise in commercialising academic ideas into marketable propositions.

After 22 academic teams passed the Selection Panel, our cohort spent two days developing their cyber innovations and their teams to build their brand awareness for future investment. Our experts helped our academic cyber teams with personal development skills, and building personal and company brands. This included training sessions in PR and Communications with Ezkenzi PR, Digital Marketing with Taylor Communications and developing an elevator pitch with Anchored In.

“CyberASAP is a promising programme giving cyber academics – who may not have any grounding in entrepreneurship – the tools, techniques and languages to start their journey to commercialise their ideas. This is a great opportunity for my project and others within this cohort to nudge us in the correct direction to move forward.”

Peter Garraghan, Pinch – Lancaster University

“It is great to see the breadth and depth of technologies represented in this cohort. What they need to consider now is how they are going to communicate their fantastic innovations and what is truly unique about their innovation. It is never to early to start increasing your visibility, this will help with promotion and credibility when engaging with the customers, stakeholders and investors.”

Emma Fadlon, Co-Director – CyberASAP

Teams Selected for the Market Validation Phase 

ResBe – Cardiff University

Cladded – Warwick University

IoTrim – Imperial College London

DRS’OSA – De Montfort University

PINCH – Lancaster University

GICAST – Gamified Intelligent Cyber behaviour Assessment and Skills Training – Open University

Consent Management with Data Privacy by Design – Aston University

TrueDeploy – Edinburgh Napier University

Multiple Ordered Fungible Handshakes (MOFHS) – Oxford Brookes University

Development of Deep Learning-based Extended Detection and Response (XDR) Platform for Ransomware Attack Detection – University of the West of Scotland

Cyber Security Experiential Learning Clinics – University of Liverpool & Northumbria University

Cyber Risk Analysis and Control Evaluation (CyberRACE) – Heriot-Watt University

AI-driven Attack Graphs for Threat Modelling (ANTHEM) – Loughborough University

Human-Digital Cybersecurity Risk Appetite Calibration Decision Making Capability – University of Suffolk

D-Ron: Rogue behaviour detection in the drone swarms using digital twins – Queen’s University Belfast

Hacktivity Cyber Security Labs – Leeds Beckett University

Trustd: Highly-secure, trusted and decentralised digital assets custodial solution – Edinburgh Napier University

ATDPS: Adaptive Trojan Detection and Prevention Systems for Networks-on-Chips (NoCs) – University of Sheffield

Blockchain-based secure and reliable Additive Manufacturing System – University of the West of England

CyGamBIT – Cyber Game-Based Interventions and Teaching in Cyber Awareness Digital Literacy – Bournemouth University

ROS-PCon: Attack Preventive Control for Robotics – University of West London

D-PRIV: A Data Anonymisation System for Pervasive Health – Teesside University

Next up is Meet the Entrepreneur Day in the second stage of the Market Validation phase of the programme. From there, a further selection process will identify the teams who will receive further funding to develop their Proofs of Concepts.

About CyberASAP

CyberASAP is funded by the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and delivered by Innovate UK KTN and Innovate UK in partnership. Now entering its sixth year, the programme has seen 116 academic teams from all over the UK participate, and 57 graduate (the programme is selective throughout). Alumni have between them raised more than £17m in further funding to progress their cyber innovations. More about the programme’s impact is here.

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