Heightened threats of Russian hacks of critical U.S. infrastructure – while definitely not "good" for business at a Columbus cybersecurity startup – are certainly on the list of reasons it's staying busy.
Finite State Inc.'s teams are helping clients in utilities, healthcare and other industries guard against malicious responses to U.S. sanctions on Russia and arms sales to Ukraine in the invasion that started one month ago, founder CEO Matt Wyckhouse said.
"It’s not the first time they’ll go toe-to-toe with Russian bad actors, but the threat level is higher than it’s ever been," Wyckhouse told Columbus Business First. "It could be transformational or the cybersecurity industry. ... I hope it doesn’t come to that.
"It has been really reinforcing the mission and the reason we created the company in the first place."
The four-year-old startup's software automates the search for security vulnerabilities in the embedded chips and firmware driving millions of wireless devices, and also helps clients keep abreast of and prepare for the potential threats seeking to exploit those vulnerabilities.
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday unsealed indictments related to Russian attacks on the U.S. energy industry from 2012-18, and the White House has been warning of increased risk during the war in Ukraine. Find the federal list of related cyber advisories here.
Dealing with an all-out attack would take away from strategic planning for expanding Finite State's products and capabilities, but the company' is "so driven by (its) mission," Wyckhouse said.
Finite State has grown to 74 employees, distributed around the country with a core in Central Ohio, and is hiring rapidly. The startup has raised a cumulative $50 million in venture capital and recently expanded the executive suite to prepare for the next stage of growth.
Last year the company tripled the number of customers for "significant" annual revenue growth. This quarter is on track to be the best in company history, Wyckhouse said, and he expects that pattern to repeat each quarter of 2022. Regulators and consumers alike are more often asking device manufacturers about the security of embedded chips and sensors.
"The awareness of the problem we solve has rapidly evolved," he said. "It’s really hard to sell your products if you aren’t taking security not just into consideration, but putting it front and center."
The company might still take on additional outside capital to push growth ahead of demand, but the timing is not determined.
"We’re excited about the growth trajectory we’re on right now," Wyckhouse said. "We’ll continue to grow my favorite way, through customers and revenue and providing value to the market."
Wyckhouse is a technical founder, himself the former CTO of Battelle's cybersecurity business. But the company has reached the stage that he created its first separate CTO position. Last week Finite State announced the hiring of CTO Gün Akkor, and Kirk Appelman as executive vice president of sales.
Wyckhouse said he'd followed the "amazing" career of Akkor in nine years on the founding team of cybersecurity companty Carbon Black.
"He's seen scale in the cybersecurity industry at a level most people have never seen," Wyckhouse said.
While that means less "fun technical stuff" for Wyckhouse to concentrate on, he said he's found himself relishing CEO duties even more.
"I’ve grown as a person, grown as a leader, over the last 4½ years," he said. "I learn something every day – and I get it wrong the first time more than I get it right – but I love being the CEO and leveraging the talents of this incredibly talented team."
