Darktrace pitches to South Korean maritime giants

Cambridge cyber security AI world leader Darktrace has been pitching its technology to five of South Korea’s largest shipbuilding and ship owning corporations during a trade mission to the UK.

Gabriel Seemungal, Critical Infrastructure Specialist from Darktrace, in action pitching the company’s technologies. Credit – Intralink.

The company is already riding the crest of a wave and was one of seven scale-ups surfing for Korean contracts. The target market is worth multibillions.

Founded by mathematicians and cyber defence experts in 2013, Darktrace is a global leader in cybersecurity AI. It has more than 2,200 employees and 30 offices worldwide and was named one of Fast Company’s ‘10 Most Innovative Companies in Artificial Intelligence’ for 2022.

The Darktrace AI innovation flagship in Cambridge has conducted research establishing new thresholds in cyber security, with technology innovations backed by more than 145 patents and pending applications.

The opportunity to pitch was offered to Darktrace and other hand-picked British companies as part of the government-funded UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme, which helps tech scaleups to explore and secure commercial opportunities in 11 markets across the Asia Pacific region.

Intralink, the international business development consultancy which delivers the UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme for the Government, selected the UK companies to participate in the event.

Each pitched their technologies to Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hanwha Ocean, HMM and Hyundai Glovis. The companies then took part in Q&A and networking sessions to move discussions forward.

The event was part of a broader inward maritime trade mission organised by the British Embassy in Seoul and the UK’s Department for Business & Trade.

The maritime industry is strategically important to South Korea, with its shipbuilding sector alone forecast to be worth KRW 44 trillion (£30.1 billion) by 2030.

While it is already a global player and is making huge investments in the digitalisation and decarbonisation of the field, it lags regional rivals China and Japan in the development of smart ships and smart ports.

The country’s corporations are keen to collaborate with western companies offering technologies which can help strengthen its position in the sector.

Companies can apply to be considered for the Intralink programme at www.intralinkgroup.com/TGP.

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