ETH spin-out makes European final of Global Security Challenge

ETH spin-out Arktis Radiation Detectors has been chosen as one of world’s most promising five security start-ups in the European leg of the Global Security Challenge 2008. The two top European companies, to be announced on 24 September, will compete for a $500,000 grant against winners from the Asian and Americas legs at the final event, to be hosted by the London Business School on 13 November 2008.

The five European start-ups are Swiss cargo screening specialist Arktis Radiation for the detection of fast-neutron radiation; Irish remote control device specialist Beyond Encryption Technologies; Israeli “artificial intuition” software developer Intuview, which specialises in real-time exploitation of Arabic-language documents to determine contents of intelligence value; UK-based hacker protection company Metaforic; and incident assessment and response management software developer QCC Technologies/Blackthorne.

The Global Security Challenge, founded by MBA students at the London Business School, is the first global competition to feed the market for new security technologies and has been joined by the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies, which will host the European part of this international competition. Business plans will be presented in Brussels on 24 September 2008, and semi-finalists selected by a panel of judges from the US Government’s anti-terrorism Technical Support Working Group, Smiths Detection and PegasusBridge Fund Management.

Simon Schneider and Janeen Chupa, from the Global Security Challenge, said: “This year, we saw a record number of submissions from innovators in the Europe, originating from universities, research labs, corporate spin-offs and their own garages. The breadth of the innovations from all kinds of disciplines showed us the value of hosting this competition to empower people with ideas.”