On January 14th, this type of collaboration among MassChallenge and one of its Silicon Valley-based sponsors, Cisco Entrepreneurs in Residence, was in full force as the two parties co-hosted a Disruptive Technologies Pitch Day at MassChallenge focused around Cisco EIR interest areas. As a startup incubation program within Cisco Systems, Cisco EIR supports early-stage entrepreneurs working on the next big ideas in the areas of Enterprise IT.

The Pitch Competition

MassChallenge utilized its network to curate five promising East coast-based early-stage startups in Cisco EIRs areas of interest for a pitch competition.

In a room filled with investors, IT professionals, journalists, and community leaders, the following companies pitched their businesses to Cisco EIRs leadership:

• nCrypted Cloud: Securely share sensitive files with your team, contractors, clients, & Vendors

• TapLink: Completely secure your passwords against offline attack, even if your password database is stolen.

• SybilSecurity: Turn data security on its head with our new algorithm that allows you share more data, more widely, more privately.

• Podium Data: Podium Data uses big data technologies to redefine the enterprise data management.

• BETTER Mobile Security: BETTER is the most advanced mobile endpoint technology.

After the pitches were complete, the winner was crowdsourced form the audience. nCrypted Cloud came away the big winner, with TapLink coming in a close second.

In the words of Jean-Marc Mommessin, Cisco EIRs Program Lead, the Disruptive Tech Pitch Day was a success, and the caliber of startups presenting was impressive. We enjoyed making new connections in the Boston startup ecosystem.

Takeaway

The East Coasts early-stage entrepreneurial ecosystem in enterprise IT and cybersecurity is thriving. The high caliber of early stage startups in the New England region have seeded a strong ecosystem for savvy investors like Sigma Prime Ventures, top universities like MIT and Harvard, and corporations all across the world to engage. This event, co-hosted by MassChallenge and Cisco EIR, was one proof point of this ecosystem for success.

Upcoming Events

On February 9th, witness the product of innovative ecosystem collaboration as MassChallenge welcomes all startups, sponsors, partners, investors, entrepreneurs, community members and innovation enthusiasts to the official launch of the MassChallenge 2016 Application Season.

The Boston Launch celebrates the official opening of our 2016 applications one of the biggest events of the year! It is also a celebration of the thriving innovation ecosystem, highlighting new initiatives around entrepreneurship in the coming year at the Innovation Walk showcase.