Editor’s note: The North Carolina Technology Association’s annual awards program Thursday night will recognize 10 emerging companies as “Startups to Watch” across the state. WRAL TechWire worked with the trade group to gather profile information on the 10 – eight responded to the questionaires. Here is the second of the eight Q&A profiles.

ThreatSketch

ThreatSketch’s LinkedIn page

  • Website: https://threatsketch.com/
  • When was your company founded? 2015
  • Its founder(s) and current title(s) are: Rob Arnold – CEO + Nathan Powell – Chief Risk Officer
  • What is your mission statement? We are experts in cybersecurity data analytics for cyber risk management professionals. We believe cyber risk managers are most successful when they have the appropriate tools, information and leadership support. Our mission is to arm the world’s cyber risk managers with the data and analytics necessary to measure and manage ongoing cyber risk. We provide curated data and analytic tools that facilitate an easy-to-understand 360° view of risk management.
  • What does your selection by NC TECH mean to you and your company? It validates all the hard work we have been doing on behalf of the small/medium businesses that we ultimately serve. It also validates all the work we are doing in the beltway on behalf of North Carolina.
  • What makes your company unique? What is your secret sauce? The work we do at the national stage is what makes us unique. Homeland Security and the NIST are two examples of government agencies that are shaping the cybersecurity industry. When they convene conferences, roundtables, and task forces, Threat Sketch is often the sole representative for small and medium businesses. We sit at the table with companies like IBM, AT&T, Cisco, Intel, Verizon where we advocate for small/medium businesses and help shape the policies and programs that, in turn, shape our industry.
  • What is your target market(s) and why did you select it/them? While our customers are large businesses, it is the small and medium businesses that they need to reach that are our real target. We selected them because they need access to the same risk-informed decision making tools that their larger counterparts need. This provides us an opportunity to do good by making enterprise class risk management accessible to resource strapped organizations.
  • Are you producing revenue? If so, are you cash flow positive or profitable? Yes and No
  • How are you financed? Ourselves and with revenue from two contracts with Homeland Security to implement large scale risk management solutions for nonprofits and small governments that are part of our nation’s critical infrastructure.
  • Who are your investors? We have been lucky enough to be largely self funded. The only major outside, non-revenue money came from a former investment banker that tracked us down to make an early, private investment.
  • Are you currently looking for financing and if so, how much? Qualified investors that want to include cybersecurity in their portfolio should contact us. We have a $1.5m convertible preferred stock offering at a very modest valuation that should be open by the time this goes to print. We expect it will close quickly as we already have investors queuing up for term sheets.