Cyber and deep tech investment firm Paladin Capital announced in a company press release that it has welcomed Ciaran Martin as its new managing director today.
Paladin Capital Group has already expanded its European operations this year by appointing Pratima Aiyagari as a Director, and Conor O’Sullivan as Vice President, whose main focuses are explained to be on European investment, and creating new marketing opportunities for Paladin’s Cyber Funds in May 2020.
Ciaran Martin commented on how he’s delighted to join the cyber and deep tech investment firms team by saying: “I am delighted to be working with the Paladin team. I learned in Government that whether it’s in the UK, Europe, the US or globally, the common cyber threats we face can only be solved if there is a strong, innovative private sector taking care of huge swathes of the problem. That presents enormous economic opportunities for talented technologists and entrepreneurs and I’m looking forward to being part of a venture capital team helping them to succeed.”
Michael Steed, Founder and Managing Partner at Paladin Capital Group wrote: “Ciaran Martin is an exceptional talent in the cybersphere and we’re profoundly pleased to have him join the Paladin team. His understanding of the ever-evolving threat landscape and knowledge of the technologies required to meet those challenges will help us assess potential investments and support our portfolio companies in their growth.”
Businesses across various sectors are growing its teams to deal with the surge of popularity with AI-enabled and digitally friendly businesses with the pandemic welcoming a bigger digital economy.
The cyber and deep tech investment firm is not the only business making new appointments to its team with Vision Critical recently welcoming Steven Medeiros as it’s new Asia-Pacific and Japan team lead while financial AI solution provider AppZen has expanded its leadership team to support rising market demand for financial digital transformation.
Paladin Capital concentrates on cybersecurity investing, having invested in close to 50 cyber and advanced technology companies, including Digital Shadows and Secure Code Warrior.
The cyber and deep tech investment firm regards itself as a multi-stage investor and focuses on backing early-stage companies across the EMEA, North America, and Asia regions that are developing products and services that defend, monitor, and securely shared digital infrastructure.
Steed added: “At Paladin, we focus on companies that have a “dual-lens”, that is, they provide services to government and commercial customers. Ciaran’s experience working across the public and private sectors to develop cyber solutions will be invaluable for the companies we back.”
Ciaran joins the cyber and deep tech investment firm from the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which he established as its first CEO in 2016 and is regarded as one of the best public authorities in the world for cybersecurity. The mission of the NCSC is to help make the UK a safe place to live and work online, working with the public sector, SMEs and industry, and the general public. Ciaran was the head of cybersecurity at GCHQ from 2014 before starting up the NCSC.
Ciaran will be based in Paladin’s European headquarters in the UK. The cyber and deep tech investment firm wrote that Ciaran’s role will assist with the development of Paladin’s presence in the growing European cybersecurity early-stage market. Ciaran will also be part of Paladin’s global Strategic Advisory Board, advising the company on threats, trends, risks, and opportunities in cybersecurity for businesses and governments. This important role is in addition to Ciaran’s other current position as Professor of Practice at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford.
