ANN ARBOR — A novel way to detect malware and other anomalies on medical devices was awarded Best of Boot Camp at the conclusion of Ann Arbor Spark’s 24th Entrepreneurial Boot Camp.
As Best of Boot Camp winner, Virta Laboratories received membership to the New Enterprise Forum and an NEF coaching team for one year as well as an engagement with the Ann Arbor Spark business accelerator.
Virta was chosen as winner by a panel of investors and industry experts who rated Boot Camp participants’ pitches.
Virta delivers malware and anomaly detection on medical devices and process control systems by non-intrusively measuring the power consumption patterns of the machines being protected. The increasing reliance on commodity operating systems for modern devices has also opened them to a greater chance of attack, leaving many devices vulnerable to a variety of malware.
Virta helps its customers in early detection, while avoiding interference with the functions of the devices by doing the measurements “at the wall.” The Virta Labs team includes strong technical members with advanced degrees from MIT, UC Berkeley, UMass Amherst and the University of Minnesota.
Ann Arbor Spark’s Entrepreneurial Boot Camp process quickly and effectively validates and focuses an entrepreneur’s business idea. Compared to other entrepreneur education programs that focus on teaching how to write a business plan, Boot Camp gives business founders the tools to decide if their idea is worth executing.
Ten teams and 40 volunteers participated in Ann Arbor SPARK’s Entrepreneurial Boot Camp. A bi-annual program, Boot Camp has assisted more than 300 companies since 2002.
Ann Arbor Spark will host its next Entrepreneurial Boot Camp in October. More at www.annarborusa.org.