Why 1Kosmos is set to fill a Void in Cybersecurity & Digital Economy
Today, I’m pleased to announce that my new venture 1Kosmos is exiting stealth mode with a $15 million investment from ForgePoint Capital. With this Series A funding and our brand-new advisory board—which includes Chairman of the Board Admiral Mike McConnell, Former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen and other industry luminaries —we plan to accelerate 1Kosmos’ growth and product offerings.
The journey to 1Kosmos has been equal part exciting as well as humbling. It all started with moving to the U.S. to fulfill my “American dream”. Part time jobs like being a server on Syracuse University’s campus, a dishwasher at the University of Southern California, network engineer at an Internet AdTech startup, while also studying for my Engineering program (and maintaining my GPA) and of course having a lot of fun – was exhausting but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The jobs got me through my education and allowed me the freedom to pass on a well-respected PhD program as well as a lucrative job at Microsoft, and take a chance on starting a company with then friends (like family) that we hoped would transform the industry. After a couple of challenging years – learning on the job and multiple pivots we signed up with two Fortune 50 customers who helped shape the product and bring our vision to life. Team building, creating a culture of innovation and success and making an impact were by far the most important investments we could have made. Fast forward 18 years, I had gone from an engineering graduate who didn’t feel destined for that field to an entrepreneur with successful businesses and and a continued passion and vision for the future of identity. Yes, I have been asked many times why don’t I retire and just relax? The answer is simple – I just love the euphoria of being back in the garage, building new solutions to solve real world problems and pushing the limits of next generation technology.
Despite having a healthy career in the cybersecurity industry, I couldn’t shake the notion of not knowing who’s on the other side of a digital connection. I constantly found myself asking the question “How do I identify who someone is, and how do I let them interact with all of my services, while also ensuring that their personal information is in their control?” Since the time I came to the United States, I’ve had to keep proving who “I” was as an individual starting with applying for a social security card, opening a bank account, registering for courses at the university, applying for a job, applying for a business permit, buying a house, getting a birth certificate for my daughter, acquiring visas to renewing passports, getting my US citizenship and the list keeps going. With these challenges that I faced, I knew everyone would be facing the same issues whether the person was an employee, business partner, consumer or citizen. Hence, I set out on a mission to answer this question and, as a result, 1Kosmos was born.
The 1Kosmos team has worked hard to create the only cybersecurity solution in the market that provides digital identity proofing and password-less authentication with advanced biometrics and a private, permissioned blockchain. While security continues to be a hinderance for many organizations, our goal with 1Kosmos is to create a product that has a streamlined user experience, while also enabling businesses to keep their employee and customer data secure. We’ve grown our client portfolio to include tech giants, such as Verizon, Hitachi, RSA etc.
“We are going to solve a 60 year old identity & credential compromise problem in less than 60 minutes”
With remote working and a transformational digital economy here to stay, digital identity and knowing for a fact who is on the other end of a connection has never been more important. At 1Kosmos, we recognize this need and will continue to disrupt how the world views digital identities. I can’t wait to see what we accomplish next!
If you are looking to disrupt the identity market and enjoy the company build out phase, please do reach out to us.
More to come…..We are just getting started – Vamanos!
