The Global Security Challenge runs international business plan competitions to find and select the most promising security technology startups in the world. The GSC holds regional selection events and a Security Summit in London to bring together innovators with government, industry and investors. The GSC belongs to InnoCentive, which acquired the original owner OmniCompete in 2012. OmniCompete also launched the Energy Storage Challenge in 2010.
The GSC was founded by MBA students of London Business School in spring 2006; the first competition took place in summer 2006. By 2007, the Technical Support Working Group, an interagency group of the US Government, sponsored the annual grant award of $500,000 Dollar for the winning security startup. The GSC runs regional finals in Singapore at the National University of Singapore, in Washington DC at The University of Maryland and Brussels at the Brussels School of International Studies ahead of the GSC London Security Summit in autumn, hosted by London Business School.
GSC finalists and winners from the last three annual competitions have subsequently raised over $117 million in new venture funding and grants. The top-selected startups also have secured large contracts with government clients, such as the US Department of Energy, the US Navy and the US Department of Defense, and with industry behemoths, such as Siemens and Bayer AG from Germany. One regional finalist in 2007, TenCube, recently got acquired by McAfee and the cyber 2009 winner Ksplice was acquired in July 2011 by Oracle.
Start-Up Winner from 2006: Ingenia Technology (UK)
Start-Up Winner from 2007: NoblePeak Vision (USA)
Start-Up Winner from 2008: TRX Systems (USA)
Start-Up Winner from 2009: Adaptive Imaging Technologies (Israel)
Start-Up Winner from 2010: mPedigree (Ghana)
Start-Up Winner from 2011: Arktis Radiation Detectors Ltd (Switzerland)
Best Security Idea 2008: Homergent Inc (USA)
Best Security Idea 2009: Remedium Technologies (USA)
Best Crowded Places Security Idea 2008: Crowd-Vision (Switzerland)
Best Crowded Places Security Idea 2009: iOmniscient (Australia)
Winner of Cyber Security Challenge 2009: Ksplice (USA)
Winner of Cyber Security Challenge 2010: Masking Networks (USA)
Winner of Cloud Security Challenge 2010: CloudSwitch (USA)
Security SME of the Year 2009: Kromek (UK)
Security SME of the Year 2010: iwebgate (Australia/UK)
Security SME of the Year 2011: Agnitio (Spain)
Energy Storage Idea of the Year 2011: ?
The members of the GSC Judging Committees are leaders from venture capital funds, government, universities and industry.
Defence Science & Technology Agency (Singapore Government)
Home Office (UK Government)
UK Ministry of Defence (Counter Terrorism Science & Technology Centre)
National Science Foundation
Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) - US Department of Defense
Office of Naval Research - ONR Global
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Advent Venture Partners
3V SourceOne Capital
Cap Vista
NovakBiddle Venture Partners
Paladin Capital Group
PegasusBridge Fund Management Limited
Redshift Ventures
SAIC Venture Capital Corp.
Siemens Venture Capital
London Business School
Mississippi State University
National University of Singapore
UnternehmerTum (Technical University of Munich)
University of Kent
University of Maryland, College Park
Accenture
BAE Systems
Booz Allen Hamilton
Barclays Bank
Bosch
BWI-IT (IBM, Siemens & German Armed Forces)
IBM
MITRE
SemCorp Industries
Smiths Detection
Final Judging Committee 2009
Dr. John Morgan, Deputy Director of Science and Technology, CTTSO (TSWG), US Dept. of Defense
Todd Brethauer, CTTSO Science Advisor, TSWG, US Dept. of Defense
Niloo Howe, Managing Director, Paladin Capital Group
Dave Mullin, BAE Systems
Dr. Richard Leaver, CEO, Blue Star Capital
Stephen Bonner, Head of Information Risk Management, Barclays
Dr. Alastair MacWillson, Global Managing Partner, Global Security Practice, Accenture
Mike Chalfen, General Partner, Advent Venture Partners
Chris Winter, Partner, New Venture Partners
Final Judging Committee 2010
Dr. John Morgan, Deputy Director of Science and Technology, CTTSO (TSWG), US Dept. of Defense
Darius Cheung, Co Founder & CEO, tenCube
Stephen Bonner, Head of Information Risk Management, Barclays
Dr. Alastair MacWilson, Global Managing Director - Security, Accenture
Dr. John Callahan, Associate Director for Information Superiority and Communications (IS&C), Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG)
Peder Jungck, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, CloudShield Technologies, Inc. - an SAIC Company
Carles Ferrer, General Partner, Nauta Capital
Todd Brethauer, CTTSO Science Advisor, TSWG, US Dept. of Defense
Dave Mullin, Manager, Investment in Innovation, BAE Systems
Eldar Tuvey, General Manager, Cisco Systems, CEO of ScanSafe
Mike Chalfen, General Partner, Advent Venture Partners
Chris Hodges, Director, The Carlyle Group
Bill Phelps, Executive Director, Accenture
Adam Ogilvie-Smith, Office for Security & Counter-Terrorism, UK Home Office
Colin Evans, Managing Director, Digital Barriers
The GSC hosts several regional Semi-Finals and one Grand Final (Summit) at leading research universities around the world:
University of Maryland, College Park
Northwestern University
National University of Singapore
University of Kent
London Business School is the host of the annual GSC Security Summit. The 5th annual GSC Security Summit occurred on November 11+12 2010 in London.
Keynote Speakers 2010:
The Rt Hon Baroness Neville-Jones, UK Security Minister
Dr. Lisa Porter, IARPA Director, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Darius Cheung, McAfee, Co Founder & CEO, tenCube
Adrian Chamberlain, CEO of MessageLabs
Past Speakers:
Chris Darby, CEO of In-Q-Tel
Rt Hon Lord Drayson, UK Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform
Sir Richard Dearlove, former Chief of British Secret Intelligence Service
Dr. Ruth A. David, CEO of ANSER and former Deputy Director for Science and Technology at CIA
Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Minister of Home Affairs
Dr. Eric Haseltine, Associate Director of U.S. National Intelligence for Science & Technology, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Hansjoerg Geiger, former President of Bundesnachrichtendienst (German Federal Intelligence Service, BND)
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