Congratulations to 40 Under 40 Winner: Timur Ozekcin, Co-Founder & CEO, Cylera
Get To Know Timur:
Why is this candidate a good fit for 40 under 40?
Cylera is a global pioneer in healthcare IoT, and medical device (IoMT) and intelligence cybersecurity. Founded in 2017 by CEO, Tim Ozekcin, along with Chief Business Officer, Sean Abraham, and CTO, Paul Bakoyiannis, the three co-Founders have a mission to protect patients, ensure compliance, and speed up cyber risk resolution in the global healthcare sector. As a national critical infrastructure, the global healthcare industry remains under constant threat from cybercriminals, with the sector attacked, on average, 1684 times a week worldwide. Furthermore, there are now 646 million medical devices online worldwide, with a further $54 billion expected to be spent on connected medical devices by 2029. This interconnected environment brings unique device management and cybersecurity challenges at scale, from legacy operating systems and inconsistent patch updates, to expanding threat surfaces for cyber gangs to compromise, all threatening patient safety and healthcare continuity. After raising $22M between Seed and Series ‘A’ funding in 2021, Timur, aged 31, has scaled Cylera to global heights in just six years. He has been instrumental in Cylera breaking into new global markets, and in constantly innovating its agentless IoMT cybersecurity and intelligence platform to give Heads of IT in healthcare the ultimate in visibility of devices and risks on their network, helping tackle the constantly evolving cybersecurity threats facing the industry today. Headquartered in New York, Cylera now has offices in Madrid, Spain and in the UK’s cyber central, Cheltenham. Market expansion has tripled the company’s customer headcount in the last 12 months in the UK, North America, Asia Pacific, the Nordics, and the Middle East. Since Timur took the business into the UK 18 months ago, Cylera’s cybersecurity solutions have been deployed in over 25 NHS Trusts in England and Wales, helping to protect these organizations against the rising risk of cyber-attacks on critical, national infrastructure globally. Global expansion has been possible through Timur and his team’s targeted technology channel partner strategy. In just 18 months Timur has headed up a channel partner expansion programme which has seen a sixfold increase in its channel partner network. The company works worldwide with distinguished, global security providers including Illumio, Extreme Networks, and Cisco, to facilitate the global market reach of Cylera's products. In early 2023, Timur was instrumental in securing an exclusive partnership deal with Omantel, Oman’s first and largest integrated telecommunications service provider, bringing Cylera to Oman for the first time and further strengthen Cylera’s presence in the Middle East. Cylera now serves over 125 hospitals worldwide, with a 100% client renewal rate and a 30% growth in its global team in the last 12 months, including the appointment of a Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, a Vice President of Marketing, and a Chief Operating Officer (COO). The company has grown a remarkable 300% in global revenue year on year since 2021.
Explain this candidate’s professional accomplishments:
Timur holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering, a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and a Master’s in Public Health focusing on Healthcare Policy from Columbia University. He is widely recognized for his contributions in the cyber space industry and was named in The Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs of 2022 by The Healthcare Industry Report. He scaled Cylera to such success in such a short space of time that in just five years of operating, the business was crowned 2022 UK Healthcare Cyber Security Company of the Year by Global Healthcare & Pharma Private Healthcare Annual Awards, and was recognized as a standout innovator in an IDC report: Healthcare IoT Security Products in 2022. Prior to founding Cylera, he was the Co-founder of a medical device and technology start-up Heuristics Health. Additionally, he worked for a non-profit consortium funded by the Department of Homeland Security which focused on the safety and security of medical devices within healthcare organizations. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timur-ozekcin-6a0b7574/
How does the candidate show commitment to the industry and bettering their professional career?
Timur’s dedication to the online security and safety of the healthcare sector is evident through his unwavering commitment to innovation to help safeguard the rapidly digitalizing healthcare sector against the myriad of cybersecurity challenges that faces the industry. This year, Timur was instrumental in forming Cylera’s first Advisory Council of 12 select members from major healthcare providers and hospitals in the U.S. and UK public and private sector. CISOs, CIOs and CTOs members meet four times a year to share insight and drive innovation to tackle the ever-advancing cyber threats against patient safety, data and healthcare provision. With a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in biological and mechanical engineering, Timur’s dedication to cybersecurity innovation has also been pivotal to protecting the 100s of healthcare settings it now supports. Earlier this year, after months of extensive research, prototyping, and testing, Timur and his team launched its new Command Platform User Interface (UI). As threats become more sophisticated the new UI provides healthcare teams with a comprehensive view of their entire cybersecurity landscape, to manage all medical devices, connected IoT and vulnerabilities in one place. The new digital dashboard condenses complex data layers into a single view, providing superior protection. Last year, Timur led his team to be the first to create a dedicated NHS Cyber Alert dashboard, designed to help resource-strapped NHS Trusts to remain compliant and secure. NHS Trusts must respond quickly to cyber threat notifications received from NHS Digital’s Data Security Centre. Cylera’s alert dashboard allows Hospital Trusts to streamline their cyber response coordination, workflows, and resolutions, saving time and reducing risk against online threats. As part of its ongoing mission to protect healthcare, Timur plans to increase its workforce by a further 30% in 2023 and to open a new office in the Gulf and possibly one in SE Asia later this year.
