Black Unicorn Awards 2019 - Now Open - Apply Now!
Only 100 Companies Entering
100
Limited to 30 Finalists
30
There Will Be Only 10 Winners
10
Three Top Industry Judges
3
- Black Unicorn Awards opened for nominations on April 15, 2019.
- All Official Nomination Forms must be received by the Judges at nominations@blackunicornawards.com no later than June 19, 2019.
- Judging will begin on June 19, 2019 and 30 Finalists will be selected by the Judges on July 9, 2019.
- An announcement of the 30 Finalists will go out on the wire and through our marketing vehicles on July 11, 2019.
- Ten Winners will be selected by the Judges between July 11, 2019 and July 19, 2019 which will go into the Black Unicorns Annual Report for 2019 which comes out on August 7, 2019 during Black Hat USA 2019.
- Winners will then be announced on August 7, 2019 during Black Hat USA 2019.
Key takeaways and important points:
- The Official Nomination Form is used to build your company profile for our print and electronic edition of the Black Unicorn Report for 2019, should you be a finalist or winner. There is no need to disclose financials if you don’t want to – or current or future rounds of funding. It’s only to help if you win, to help you rise above the noise of others in the field and put you on the investment community radar, should you wish.
- These awards will be covered by many in the mainstream media as well…we inform over seven thousand (7,000) direct media contacts in radio, print and TV plus we are providing our own coverage for the finalists and winners throughout 2019.
- If you wish to Rise Above the Noise! in a crowded market, this will absolutely help you.
The printed Black Unicorn Report for 2019 and the online version will be useful for customers, partners, employees, future investors, board members, etc. This will generate serious prestige for the winners and finalists, so don’t miss out!
Testimonials Frequently Asked Questions Criteria to Apply Nomination Form
Schedule Marketing Packages Meet the Judges Enter to Win
David DeWalt is a proven industry executive, advisor and investor who has led startups to the Fortune 500 and helped create more than $20 billion of shareholder value during his more than 15 years as president & CEO of three major companies. Today, he serves as a board member in some of the most innovative companies, from well-established market leaders to high-growth start-ups, such as Delta Airlines, Five9, ForeScout, Phantom Cyber, CallSign, Claroty, Team8, DataTribe, Illusive Networks and Optiv.
David is the Founder of NightDragon Security, an investment firm focused on partnering with cybersecurity companies across the corporate lifecycle, from early stage, to growth, buyouts and special situations. Its flexible model allows it to lead or co-invest alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms in the pursuit of driving growth and maximizing shareholder value.
NightDragon is unique in providing deep operational expertise in cybersecurity gained by its founders Dave DeWalt and Ken Gonzalez from years serving as senior executives leading technology companies such as Documentum, EMC, Siebel Systems (Oracle), McAfee, Mandiant, Avast and FireEye.
Robert Herjavec, Founder & CEO of Herjavec Group is an award winning, trailblazing cybersecurity executive. A dynamic entrepreneur, Robert Herjavec has built and sold several IT companies. In 2003 Robert founded Herjavec Group, and it quickly became one of North America’s fastest growing technology companies. Today, Herjavec Group is a global leader in information security, operating across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada; specializing in managed security services, advisory services, identity and incident response for enterprise level organizations. Robert’s ability to interpret industry trends and understand enterprise business security demands has helped him achieve the profile of a global cybersecurity expert.
He has served as a Cybersecurity Advisor for the Government of Canada, participated in the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce Task Force for Cybersecurity. His views on the threat landscape, on emerging technologies and on the need for a proactive security framework are regularly profiled across print, digital and television mediums.
In addition, he shares his expertise with other entrepreneurs each week as a leading Shark on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning hit show Shark Tank.
Gary Miliefsky, Founder & CEO of Cyber Defense Media Group (CDMG) is an internationally recognized cybersecurity expert, bestselling author and keynote speaker. He is a Founding Member of the US Department of Homeland Security, the National Information Security Group and the OVAL advisory board of MITRE responsible for the CVE Program. He also assisted the National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC), which operates within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in their development of The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace as well as the Center for the Study of Counter-Terrorism and Cyber Crime at Norwich University. Gary has been founder and/or inventor for technologies and corporations sold and licensed to Hexis Cyber, WatchGuard, Intel/McAfee, IBM, Computer Associates and BlackBox Corporation. Gary is a member of ISC2.org and is a CISSP®.
In 2012, he founded Cyber Defense Magazine, which has grown to a market leader on sharing information on all things cybersecurity, as independently reviewed, daily, here: https://essentials.news/en/future-of-hacking having over 1.4m readers and continuing to grow, every day. Other CDMG platforms he’s launched include CyberDefenseTV, CyberDefenseRadio, CyberDefenseAwards with additional platforms launching in 2019.
He is a frequent invited guest on national and international media commenting on breaches, cyber crime, internet of things, cloud computing, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, privacy, cyber security, and cyber terrorism. He has also been covered in Forbes, Fortune and Inc. Magazines. He is also an expert on Cryptocurrencies and related fraud as well as most issues pertaining to ICOs, Bitcoins, Blockchain technology and Ransomware. His recent bestselling book, rated 5.0 stars, is entitled Cryptoconomy – Bitcoins, Blockchains and Badguys, available on Amazon.com. He’s frequently writing articles published throughout the mainstream media and he also likes to write thought provoking articles at LinkedIn as a Top 1% of all INFOSEC LinkedIn profiles and a Top 3% Globally on LinkedIn.
In the venture capital industry, a unicorn refers to any tech startup company that reaches a $1 billion dollar market value as determined by private or public investment. The term was originally coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures. Last year, CB Insights reported that the odds of becoming a unicorn — a company valued at $1 billion or more — was less than 1% for companies that had raised venture capital. In 2018, there were 47 tech companies in the US to reach this unicorn status, according to data provided by PitchBook.
In the cybersecurity industry, in 2019, Gary S. Miliefsky coined the term black unicorn as a cybersecurity company that has the potential to reach a $1 billion dollar market value as determined by private or public investment.
The black unicorn awards are designed to help showcase companies with this kind of potential. Ultimately, the judging in our awards is tough and its still up to the finalists and the winners to execute a flawless business model to reach this potential. It takes innovation, dedication, passion – the right team and the right cyber security solution, harmoniously executed to become a unicorn.
If you are one of our winners, the judges believe you have this potential. While there are no guarantees, your discovery and our award signify you meet the criterial – it’s up to you to execute and meet all the challenges that follow.
Do you have what it takes to be a Black Unicorn? Let’s find out…
