As we move towards a digital economy, cybersecurity is one of the top concerns for most companies in India, and across the world. And in order to secure itself from such threats,
Zacco India R&D has acquired a 100-percent stake in Coimbatore-based startup Lakhshya Cyber Security Labs in an all-cash deal. The amount of the deal, however, is undisclosed.
Founded by Premchand Kurup and Pradeep Menon in 2017, Lakhshya Cybersecurity Labs will continue to be led by Pradeep after the acquisition. Co-founder Premchand, however, has resigned from the Board, but will continue to act as an advisor to the company.
Lakhshya will now serve as the cybersecurity R&D Centre of Excellence for the 150-year-old Zacco, which is based in Stockholm. The Centre of Excellence will focus on developing state-of-the-art solutions and services in the area of malware analysis, threat hunting and intelligence, managed security operations centre monitoring and response, security incident investigation, breach response support, smart city security, devsecops, and smart grid security, leveraging its capability in artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
On the acquisition, Mats Boström, CEO, Zacco Group, said,
“In the digitalised world, cybercrime and digital threats are unfortunately an increasing challenge for many organisations and individuals. Data, algorithms, and all types of digital technology are today significant Intellectual Property and strategic assets. India is today a world-leading hub for advanced digital technology. Lakhshya is adding unique expertise to our current R&D Centre in Bengaluru and we are very glad to welcome Pradeep Menon and his team to Zacco.”
Why Lakhshya?
Speaking of the acquisition, Ravi Sunderrajan, Managing Director, Zacco India R&D, says,
“Lakhshya Labs will add a team of more than 40 professionals with expertise across banking, financial services and insurance, aviation, government, automotive, manufacturing, and trading verticals, with real-time 24/7 monitoring services through its SOC facility. This combination will be able to add significant value to Zacco, and enable the combined entity to address the clients’ Digital Asset Protection in a holistic manner. We plan to grow this team significantly over time, and will continue to build on our existing offerings, both organically and inorganically.”
Explaining why Zacco chose to acquire Lakhshya Labs, Ravi said India is currently growing into a big technology R&D hub. Enterprises here, he says, are in a race to go digital. This race could sometimes cause companies to overlook critical aspects like cybercrime and digital threats, which are, more often than not, front and centre.
“Data, algorithms, and all types of digital technology are significant today. Intellectual property and strategic assets must be protected. This is the critical area where we see Lakhshya adding a unique expertise to our existing R&D centre in Bengaluru,” says Ravi.
Also, over the past two years, Lakhshya has built considerable experience in niche areas of cybersecurity such as malware analysis, cyber breach investigation, red teaming and Devsecops.
Premchand Kurup, CEO of Paramount Computer Systems and one of the founders of Lakhshya Labs says, “This combination will be able to add significant expertise and value to Zacco and enable the combined entity to address clients’ Digital Asset Protection in a holistic manner.”