COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gula Tech Adventures announced its first ever cyber pitch competition today—CyberQuest 2020. The competition supports the next generation of cyber technology, strategy and policy entrepreneurs by investing in startups of all sizes, with a focus on pre-series A. The winner will receive a $150,000 investment from Gula Tech Adventures. CyberQuest 2020 will be held April 21, 2020 in Columbia, Maryland.

Cybersecurity companies based in the U.S. are eligible to apply, as well as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, cloud, virtual reality and automation start-ups. The company must be technology focused and develop software or offer a SaaS solution for sale.

“We’re launching CyberQuest 2020 because we believe strongly that we need more solutions to help defend against the ever-evolving threat landscape. The diversity of ideas and approaches is needed to keep up with the rapidly changing technology and regulations.” said Cyndi Gula, co-founder of Gula Tech Adventures. “This pitch competition aims to attract the most nimble and innovative ideas to encourage them to reach their full potential as efficiently as possible.”

Gula Tech Adventures was founded in 2017 by cyber industrialists Ron and Cyndi Gula. Ron was the cofounder and CEO of Tenable Network Security. He helped grow the company to 20,000 customers, raise $300M in venture capital, and grow revenues to $100M, setting up the company for an IPO in 2018. Prior to Tenable, Ron was a cyber industry pioneer and developed one of the first commercial network intrusion detection systems called Dragon. Cyndi is a cyber start-up operations expert. She has started and run licensing, human resources, legal, facilities, accounting, marketing, channel, support and sales operations for both Tenable Network Security and Network Security Wizards, where she was President.

Gulta Tech Adventures started out making seed investments and now focuses on Series A and cyber funds. To date, the firm has invested in 49 cyber start-ups and 6 cyber funds and made 23 direct investments. With the cyber pitch competition, Gula Tech Adventures aims to identify and support innovative cybersecurity companies that are moving the industry forward. 

“We are looking for startups that have an ambitious vision, sophisticated technology, an innovative approach, and a strong team,” said Ron Gula. “That’s a lot of boxes to check, but we really are looking for companies that are laser-focused on having a big impact.”

Companies wishing to apply should email a PDF version of their pitch deck, a proposed term sheet and a completed Consent and Release Agreement to cyberquest@gula.tech by March 20, 2020. Gula Tech Adventures’ portfolio company founders will review the submitted pitch decks and term sheets and each will pick their top five companies they think would make a good investment. The top five companies with the most votes from portfolio founders will be invited to participate in CyberQuest.

The morning of CyberQuest, finalists will be invited to a private 30-minute pitch session (10-minute presentation with 15 minutes of questioning) with the judges. Each judge will be given a virtual budget to invest across the five companies. The company that receives the most investment will win the actual $150,000 direct investment from Gula Tech Adventures. In the afternoon, finalists will also deliver their presentation to an audience of cyber investors, practitioners, entrepreneurs and experts. After the portfolio presentations, the judges will award the winner.

For more information about CyberQuest and application resources, visit https://www.gula.tech/cyberquest/.

About Gula Tech Adventures
Gula Tech Adventures was founded by cyber industrialists Ron and Cyndi Gula to support next generation cyber technology, strategy and policy. GTA invests in cyber companies and funds of all sizes and support a variety of cyber programs and non-profits focused on cyber policy, training and economic development. Ron and Cyndi have been investing in cyber companies since GTA was founded in 2017, starting with seed investments before turning their focus to Series A and cyber funds. To date, they have made 48 total investments.

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Jake Katz
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