The journey of Anil Kumar, a small-town Uttar Pradesh resident who built a thriving international cybersecurity company, is the story of hard work, ambition, and perseverance. Anil was brought up in a middle class family due to the transferable nature of the work of his father and was exposed to a wide array of environments at a very young age, which coupled with his growing interest in computers brought him to earning an engineering degree in IT after which he proceeded to earn an MBA in IT Business Management at Symbiosis International University, Pune.

Anil has worked as an IT and cybersecurity consultant for several years, and finally, he decided to pursue his entrepreneurial dream. He left a stable job and started CyberCube Services Private Limited in his house in Delhi in January 2018 at only 28 years of age. He wanted to close the disconnection between digital security and business resilience, which in a market of large corporations or individual consultants.

Crisis into opportunity 

Anil began as a one-man band and got his first customer through industry contacts, and he does not have an office. The first six months were painful; he had only a single client, and he experienced much self-doubt and financial pressure. Anil was back to square one when his first employee left. However, the parental support and his long-term vision enabled him to keep going.

By early 2019, CyberCube had signed a few customers and employed a small remote team. In 2020, there was a serious challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clients’ delayed payments, income lines went dry, and wages owed to employees loomed. Anil had opened up a fixed deposit to keep the business alive and was not willing to reduce the salary, a move that would not have affected the morale of the team.

During the crisis, Anil turned to international markets, taking advantage of the skyrocketing cybersecurity demand in the world. CyberCube quickly added large customers such as Bata and Body Shop, and made inroads into the USA, UAE, and other countries. The startup took a different direction by creating subsidiaries to cater to international customers.

Wide range of services

CyberCube has an office space of 7,500 sq ft in Gurugram and more than 100 employees. The company has provided its services to over 800 clients in 30+ countries, and 250 of its active clients are Airtel, Air India, and MakeMyTrip. Most of its customers are fintech companies, banks, and big tech.

CyberCube is certified by CERT-In, the cybersecurity agency of the Indian government, and performs essential checks, vulnerability analysis, and penetration testing to verify compliance in areas such as finance, insurance, and government.

CyberCube provides numerous services such as process consulting, technical consulting, and PCI certifications. Its process consulting includes international standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and SOC reports, and assists its clients in establishing strong IT security policies and programmes.

Technical consulting encompasses penetration testing, cloud security testing, and source code reviews, and reinforces network and endpoint security. CyberCube is a PCI QSA, SSF, and QPA company that offers certifications such as PCI DSS, PIN, SSF, and 3DS to protect the data of cardholders.

The firm has also created two proprietary products, Xzlenz compliance automation software based on PCI DSS, SOC, and ISO 27001, with dashboards and evidence tracking, and Scanbit, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based scanner that detects card data in files and databases to comply with the PCI rules. These innovations are indicative of the desire by CyberCube to provide tangible outcomes and a high level of client satisfaction.

Revenue growth

The business is still profitable and has cash flow to invest in to drive growth. Although 60% of business is obtained through Indian clients, the remaining is obtained through international markets. The highest revenue generator is still the PCI services. Anil would now be willing to accept strategic investments to expand operations, particularly in foreign markets such as the US.

CyberCube will grow in India and other parts of the world, and provide services such as Operational Technology (OT) security and managed security services. There are new offices, teams, and in-house products ahead of us, and Australia has been identified as a major growth market.

With the ever-growing global cybersecurity market, CyberCube is bound to become a full-service provider of IT security and compliance solutions. It is not only the story of how Anil created a business; it is also the re-invention of the possibilities of Indian businessmen in the international arena.

Conclusion

The journey of Anil Kumar, a home office resident in Delhi who works his way to the top at a global cybersecurity company, is a strong case of what vision, determination, and sound action can accomplish. The emergence of CyberCube, with 800+ clients and ₹25 crore+ in revenue, proves that bootstrapped startups can succeed in the most competitive and capital-intensive industries.