Field: Information encryption and decoding
Capital raised: $7.5 million
Personal: 40 | Married with three children | PhD in computer science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Mobile telephone identification based on biometric identification. "Let's say you enter your bank account on the Internet. If I'm the hacker, I can easily steal your identity. Today, 81% of all attacks are the result of stealing or guessing a password. If I tell you, 'Forget it; we have no passwords at all, no encryption keys,' I eliminate 81% of the hackers' tools."
"As an academic in computer science, my entire research history has been in communications and information security. That's how I came to know the Achilles heel of the sector, and that's where I got the idea for the startup.
"In the past 40 years, there has been prodigious technological development, except in encryption, where we have stayed with the same algorithms. The way information is currently secured relies on a difficulty in solving mathematical problems for which no solution can be found within a reasonable time, but this is up against computing power in which technology has progressed. An urgent need has arisen, and we provide a breakthrough solution."
"As far as I was concerned, all the academic research I did was an option for something that could contribute to industry, and I always hoped that someone would read one of my articles and say, 'I want and need this.' Then it happened: the researcher I worked with saw the potential, and we went from there to the investors.
"It all happened very quickly. I found myself interviewing CEOs and development managers, talking with investors and customers, and I found this world very attractive. I liked the excitement after every meeting, the adrenaline; I was completely carried away. Today, we already have 18 employees."
"Act confidently, even if you don't feel confident inside. Practice it, and don't be scared of anything or anyone. If you talk cogently they'll esteem you more than they do a male entrepreneur, and you'll benefit from this esteem."
"Fortunately, we were exposed to potential customers, who made us realize that our product was too 'advanced' for the market's current need.
"When I present the company, I look at things from the perspective of the doubt in people's eyes because I'm a woman, and then I start talking and enjoy seeing the doubt vanish. All of a sudden, I'm not a woman speaking; I'm a high-tech entrepreneur and a PhD in computer science."
