As summer begins its sweltering decent, many people use this time to reflect on the progress made in the first half of the year – and LaunchTech is no exception! Our team has enjoyed a lot of positive change since 2018 began as a result of the momentum gained from our fantastic group of clients.
Earlier this year, LaunchTech was named a Top 15 PR Firm serving Baltimore by Expertise, an independent research firm that grades businesses on 25 variables across different criteria. Our team is humbled and honored to be named alongside some of the area’s top talent. This accomplishment is a testament to our organization’s work ensuring the unique goals of our clients are exceeded, all the while building a team that is second to none.
LaunchTech started 2018 off on a high note by announcing the launch of Zuul, an industrial IoT startup, and the company’s Series A raise. The news was covered broadly in Maryland and shortly after the company was named the Start-Up of the Year by Information Security Products Guide. Similarly, June was another exciting month as it brought the launch of a quantum encryption company, Quantum Xchange. Led by John Prisco, the launch and subsequent funding raise was covered by over 10 publications including Fortune, Washington Post, and SecurityWeek.
In April, our team supported 10 clients at RSA 2018, securing over 70 media and analyst briefings for the thought leaders while on site. During the conference, Ntrepid’s Lance Cottrell was also selected to facilitate a Peer2Peer session titled, Infiltration – Success and Pitfalls of Penetrating Hostile Online Groups, and ReFirm Labs was a named a finalist in the annual Innovation Sandbox competition. LaunchTech also supported 10 clients at Black Hat 2018 earlier this month in Las Vegas, achieving similar success with roughly 50 media and analyst briefings secured for clients.
Each LaunchTech team member has had the pleasure of working with a wide array of all-star media thus far in 2018 on behalf of our clients. D3 Security’s Stan Englebrecht joined Steve Ragan for an episode of CSO’s Salted Hash podcast to discuss mass transit as the next great cyber-attack target. Denim Group’s John Dickson spoke with Anna Delaney from TIESS about how cyber strategies among nation states compare, and whether we should establish protocols in cyber space. Ron Gula of Gula Tech Adventures advised Rob Lemos from TechBeacon on how software teams can become GDPR compliant. Claimatic’s Larry Cochran discussed the issue of driverless cars changing the landscape of insurance carriers with Dave Bittner from CyberWire, and CIT’s Tom Weithman was interviewed by ITProTV about mentorship and funding technology startups.
These examples are just a handful of the many media and analyst interactions that provided unique and informative commentary from LaunchTech’s clients to the industry as a whole. We have also continued to encourage our clients to contribute their own writing in the form of byline article to a number of different publications. Nehemiah’s Jerry Caponera contributed a byline article to Risk Management Magazine detailing the SEC’s new Cyber Risk Guidance and Covata’s Mike Fleck released an article for Infosecurity Magazine discussing whether GDPR should be thought of as a tax or incentive. We also had several clients maintain ongoing contributor accounts with Security Week, to include ThreatQuotient’s Marc Solomon, Ntrepid’s Lance Cottrell and D3 Security’s Stan Engelbrecht.
Award season has also been in full swing for the LaunchTech team as our clients continue to make top rank – D3 Security was named a finalist in the Best Computer Forensic Solution category at the 2018 SC Magazine Awards, while Cyber Defense Magazine named Ntrepid, Nehemiah, ThreatQuotient, and Silent Circle winners in the publication’s 2018 InfoSec Awards. Claimatic was also named a finalist in the Insurance Times Claims Excellence Awards.
As 2018 continues, LaunchTech plans to build on this incredible momentum by continuing to share monthly Launch Tips for any company seeking to learn quick and easy strategies that will amplify their message in the marketplace. For now, you will find the LaunchTech team eagerly awaiting the announcement of SINET 16 finalists on August 14. Three of LaunchTech’s clients—D3 Security, Nehemiah, and ReFirm Labs—have submitted applications and will be vying for a spot in the 16 most innovative and compelling companies in 2018.