From Columbus Business First, Women of Influence is an interview series showcasing some of the most powerful women in the Central Ohio business community. Hosted by Eleanor Kennedy, Assistant Managing Editor.
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episode 20: Crisis Management: Finite State's Matt Wyckhouse on scaling up and growing despite Covid-19
With funding and major customers in hand, cybersecurity startup Finite State Inc. is in the rare position of hiring aggressively and growing by as much as 10 times despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The Columbus company raised $12.5 million in venture capital before much of the investing world went into hybernation, and it recently signed "seven-figure" contracts with large utilities that want to protect the electric grid from intruders, founder and CEO Matt Wyckhouse said.
Finite State's software automates the process of uncovering risks in the many components of the internet of things. Connected mobile devices are being installed everywhere, but they don't have a keyboard and monitor to look inside their embedded microchips and the software powering them. Finite State rolls back that curtain to determine if there are problems like hidden log-ins.
Its customers include utilities, oil and gas companies, healthcare providers and others who want to ensure the devices they're installing to control critical infrastructure are safe. And the manufacturers of such devices use Finite State's software for their own quality control.
Wyckhouse started on the puzzle of cybersecurity for mobile devices at Battelle, where he worked 13 years. He founded Finite State a year after leaving the Columbus research giant, applying his expertise to private industry instead of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Battelle declined to comment, but Wyckhouse said some former Battelle engineers joined him at Finite State, and some have migrated from the startup to Battelle. Overall, it adds to the vitality of the tech community in Central Ohio, he said.
"When you start to exchange that expertise, everyone gets stronger," Wyckhouse said.
In the latest episode of our Crisis Management podcast, Wyckhouse talked to me about the company's founding, how he's hiring still via videoconference, and about how Finite State got national notice when it tangled with Chinese telecommunications manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., as I've reported earlier