SixThirty CYBER, a St. Louis-based accelerator fund that invests in cyber security startup companies, has announced an innovative program in which five South Korean startups will visit St. Louis to further develop their technologies and learn from other companies in the cyber security field.
In St. Louis, the five South Korean companies will work out of T-REX, the startup incubator on Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis.
The program is a partnership between SixThirty CYBER and the government of South Korea. During a ceremony in South Korea recently, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens congratulated the 10 entrepreneurs from the five companies who will be coming to Missouri. Greitens was joined by Jung Su Song, director general of the Cyber Security Policy Bureau within the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.
“Missouri is excited to welcome these talented entrepreneurs as part of SixThirty CYBER’s and South Korea’s innovative new program,” Greitens said. “Missouri and South Korean companies have stepped up to the front lines to make our world safer.”
SixThirty CYBER is a business development venture fund that invests up to $250,000 in a small number of cyber security-based technology startup companies each year. Selected companies receive hands-on training, mentoring, and networking opportunities with the top chief information security officers and executives of regional private companies, as well as federal sector leaders in defense, finance, and intelligence.
“The development of cyber security technologies represents an incredible economic opportunity for the state of Missouri and the St. Louis region,” said Jay De Long, general partner, SixThirty CYBER, and a member of the T-REX board. “Missouri’s 6 million residents, 600-plus municipalities, 114 counties, and 30-plus state agencies can potentially all be targets of cyber attacks, which is why it is so important to invest in and nurture startups that are tackling this massive opportunity. This program with the South Korean government will provide critical information-sharing and collaboration between U.S. startups and information security experts and their counterparts in Asia.”
The 10 entrepreneurs from South Korea will spend six weeks in the United States starting in mid-November, visiting Denver, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. They will spend four of those six weeks working with other startups at the T-REX startup incubator in downtown St. Louis.
“This is an incredible opportunity for the startups at T-REX to work closely with their peers from Asia on cyber security technologies,” said Patricia Hagen, executive director of T-REX. “St. Louis is a leading location in the country for startups across a variety of industries, and we are quickly becoming recognized also as a place to create value and economic opportunities by helping to address cyber security challenges and opportunities.”
Rob Dixon, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development, which works to make Missouri a globally competitive business location, added: “This program illustrates the fact that cyber security is a global issue that connects places like Missouri with countries such as South Korea in meaningful ways. Missouri has the opportunity to drive the cyber security agenda across the globe, and this program serves as a key step in enabling Missouri to capitalize on that opportunity.”
About SixThirty CYBER
Founded in 2016 and backed by chief information security officers (CISOs) and other information security executives, as well as the venture capital firm Cultivation Capital and corporations like Mastercard, SixThirty CYBER is a business development program that invests up to $250,000 in a small number of cyber security-based technology startup companies each year. The selected companies receive hands-on training, mentoring, and networking opportunities with the top CISOs and executives of regional private companies (like financial services, manufacturing, and aerospace/defense), as well as federal sector leaders in defense, finance, and intelligence nationally. SixThirty CYBER has offices in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis and is a sister investment fund of SixThirty, an accelerator for financial technology startups.
About T-REX
T-REX is a nonprofit technology startup incubator and innovation center in Downtown St. Louis that is focused on energizing the economic vitality of St. Louis by supporting innovative and entrepreneurial tech companies. As a startup incubator, T-REX creates an environment where thinkers, funders, and support organizations can take advantage of affordable office space, collaborate with other startups, and access startup ecosystem services and support. The T-REX community consists of 200 companies housed within 130,000 square feet of usable space. Eighty-two companies have already graduated past incubation, moving out of T-REX to continue their businesses on their own. T-REX is the owner and developer of the Lammert Building (including commercial space on the first two floors). For more information, visit www.downtowntrex.org or follow T-REX on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.