AppKnox: world’s leading Mobile Application Security platform helping business

There are multiple trends and narratives afoot in the world today. One one hand, software, cloud and data have come to the forefront; while on the other multiple risks prevail in the global economy. The world is in a state of transition, with multiple technologies being tested at the moment, while many are on the verge of being deployed. The pandemic induced lockdowns and isolation has changed how customers and enterprises behave, leading to the creation of new markets; and innovation and consolidation in the old. 

While cybersecurity has always been a buzzword, sometimes it does feel as if enterprises and founders building solutions to keep our softwares safe and secure do not get the attention they probably deserve. This is typical cognitive bias at play when it comes to start-ups building software security products, because their best results are things which are prevented from occurring or being seen or talked about; namely hacks, malicious bugs and cyber attacks. It’s similar to how defenders, in any sport, are valued. The strikers score visible goals, while the defenders make sure bad things do not happen and therefore are not seen or appreciated properly. 

Today, at Bangalore Insider, we spoke to Harshit Agarwal, Co-founder, and CEO of Appknox, a mobile security platform that has been working with software enterprises from across the world. It’s time to pay attention to security in a digital world, where every website, app or software, is akin to houses teeming with valuable data. Below are the excerpts from our interaction.

Give a brief info about Appknox?

Appknox is the world’s leading Mobile Application Security platform helping businesses and enterprises secure their mobile application. Appknox helps businesses ensure the security of their mobile application using System + Human approach. Within 90 minutes enterprises can perform an initial level of security test on a mobile application using Appknox automated SAST, True DAST & API level testing. They can leverage mobile security experts to perform manual business logical checks on the app. 

What made you start Appknox and what problem does it solve? 

Around 2014 a lot of companies were doubling on the mobile side of growth and were going mobile-first. We could see a trend where Mobile will become the primary way of consuming internet services. With that businesses would be worried about their application’s security and we wanted to solve this for enterprises and businesses. We launched our product in 2016 aiming to keep these business applications secured.

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this?

I was working at a startup building SAAS Products. We tried releasing 2 products and had our share of learning from the failed attempt of the same. One of the products we were building was a product for rewards as a service and another product was positioned as a platform to manage logistics and end mile delivery. We had some traction within 3 months of release of end mile delivery, but failed to grow from there. 

Why do you think Bangalore is the best place for Appknox?

Bangalore is where we have tech startups coming out of every home and every cafe. Back in 2014 when we started we never had to struggle for a working place as it has the best internet infra and access to the best of talents. Things have changed in the last 2 years as we all are virtual but still a lot of our current team members are also from Bengaluru. 

Also not to miss the mentor network you have in Bengaluru is unmet in any other city. I remember in earlier days I used to post any small hiccup and there were people who were ready to help by meeting at Coffee shops the very next day.

As a startup founder, what are some of your concerns? What keeps you awake at night?

Being a startup founder you are always in a state of war with something or other. There is baggage a founder carries which includes the survival of the company, making sure all team members are doing fine, ensuring you are beating your competitors, keeping your investors and stakeholders happy, and whatnot. So, one thing I ensure every day is that I don’t carry this along with me when I am going to bed. But yes, growth and ensuring we are moving ahead is something that keeps me awake at night.

Who are your competitors and what is your advantage point?

We compete against some of the biggest cybersecurity players like HCL, Microfocus, CA Technologies, and also some of the startups like Datatheorem and NowSecure. One of the biggest advantages we have is we have the best DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) for enterprises where we deploy our Mobile Device Farm in physical form making it real DAST. This enables us to deploy our offering for govt agencies and enterprises.

Also, our focus on mobile application security ensures we are deep in what we do, and our niche has helped us to be the best in one offering.

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

It is difficult and I learned it the hard way. I went through emotional and mental breakdowns to start understanding and caring for it. But it is very important and it is hard but founders should focus on it for its long term benefits.

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If not then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

We raised seed funding in 2015 from Jungle Ventures a Singapore based VC, post which we have been running on revenue. We are growing at 2X YOY, and are profitable so raising funds is not something that tops the list but yes, whenever we would have the need, we will for sure go ahead and raise another round. 

What gets you excited about this company?

Everything. This is something we have worked on for almost 8 years now. But if I have to put it in order then Happy customers tops the list followed by the motivated team working towards it.

Tell us what a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

I am an early riser, I wake up by 5:30 – 6 am. I go out for a walk or jog in the morning which is my ‘me time’. I come back and help my wife prepare our food/meals for the day. I start my office at 10 am. I reserve my first halves of the day for check-in calls with the team and leadership team. Idea is to understand what roadblocks are where I need to step in and take care of them. Second half I generally keep empty based on daily agendas and tasks for the week. 

Post office, 6 pm I prefer spending time with family. We step out or watch movies/karaoke, my parents and wife and all of us are Catan(Board Game) Fan.

Tell us about your team (Other founders) and how did you meet each other and come to form Appknox

Subho and I go way back to 2008. We were in the same college and within the first month of our college, Me, Subho, and 3 other friends had created our Counter-Strike Clan. Post-college we were sharing rooms and I was working at a startup while Subho was working at TCS and was a cybersecurity enthusiast. He used to give a lot of training for mobile app security. 

Around 2013 December we both started talking about starting our startup looking at the mobile app front, which will look at the mobile security side. We both started working on the company and were accepted at JFDI in Singapore for their incubation program. That’s when we were officially into working on Appknox full time.

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