Five questions for… Nik Whitfield, founder of Panaseer

What does your firm do?

We use advanced data analytics to advise firms where to spend money on cyber-security. The recent WannaCry attack illustrates clearly why we do what we do. Organisations fell victim and chaos unfolded because the bigger the organisation, the more challenging it is to maintain the basics.

What's been your greatest achievement so far?

Bringing together a hard-working and diverse team of world-leading data scientists and computer scientists.

What has been your biggest challenge?

In the beginning I constantly feared I was going to run out of money. After a year building a proof of concept it was wonderful and reassuring to raise $2.25m through a syndicated seed-investment round. This has enabled us to enhance the product and build the team. Last month we announced we had raised another $3.25m in funding from existing and new investors.

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What are your plans for hitting your targets?

This year we opened our first international office in New York. This was a response to demand from our growing Fortune 500 client base, as well as being a strategic decision to increase our market presence and identify the next wave of clients.

What advice would you give fellow entrepreneurs?

Maintain a positive outlook. Start-up life requires a lot of belief and dedication. Employees want and need to see a leader who believes the firm is on a path to success.