Naq's 2020 in review

We hope you'll take the chance during the festive season to reflect on a challenging year and recognise your own successes, growth and resilience as we set our sights on what 2021 will bring. Since Naq was established in 2019, we couldn't have predicted the year we've had - here are some of our highlights. 

First five customers onboarded (or 500% growth(!)). Since taking the decision to partner as founders and securing angel investment at the turn of the new decade, we celebrated signing our first five customers in April. 

Stronger through partnerships. During the first half of 2020, we agreed 5 new partnerships as part of our commercial growth strategy and core mission to make cyber security for small to medium sized businesses more accessible. Partnerships form a critical element of helping us broaden our reach to help solve the dilemmas and issues faced by small business owners in specific sectors, including law and accounting, every day. For us, collaborating with other experts and specialists also reflects our values as a brand and enables us to continually learn and improve our offering. 

One of six to join the NCSC #CyberAccelerator 5th cohort. In July we packed our bags and headed to Cheltenham for 10 intense weeks of strategic planning, growth hacking, pitch-perfecting and networking with the most respected in the industry - not forgetting plenty of social distancing and self-isolation! Participating in the accelerator has formed a cornerstone for the future of our business, and we're thrilled to say we continue to reap the rewards of becoming part of this community. Thanks to everyone who works hard to ensure the success of each cohort!

In August, we launched the #smallbusinessseries. These easy-to-digest downloads are designed specifically for small business owners with little experience of cyber security. The most recent addition was our guide to the GDPR - it's a pocket-sized breakdown of a legislation that applies to all packed with inspiration and practical steps to refresh old ways of working and ensure your business stays compliant. 

The rise and rise of our CEO, Nadia. If you haven't met our co-founder and CEO yet, where have you been?! Nadia brings a unique perspective as a trained lawyer in International Law and Children's Rights, combined with her expertise in the GDPR. Nadia has officially made her debut as a female minority cyber security startup founder this year, appearing on the likes of TechRound's BAME50, WeAreTechWomen, Today's Conveyancer and The Sun to name just a few. We're pretty sure you won't have to look far in 2021 to see more from one of the latest young inspirational women to make a mark in the industry.

This year Naq became a Cyber Essentials Certifying Body in the UK, and continues to work with IASME to introduce Cyber Essentials elsewhere in Europe. 

Received funds to develop the Naq SaaS solution featuring Intelligent Marketplace. We are delighted to share that we were successful with our application for the NCSC scaling stipend to invest in developing an intelligent marketplace and the introduction of technical automation and AI into our suite of services. Look out for the demo and full customer roll out - coming January 2021.  

In December we became a Legal Support Network network partner, representing a fantastic addition to our content amplification strategy for the next 12 months.   

And launched our pre-seed fundraising round. To conclude a year like no other with our focus firmly on the future, we are excited to be in full fundraising mode with our call to join our pre-seed investment round worth £300,000. Discover how fantastic this opportunity is in our recent update and help us in our mission to minimise cyber security risk and ensure compliance for small businesses everywhere.    

A huge thank you to everyone who has been part of Naq's journey so far - the list grows each week and motivates us to keep iterating and innovating to deliver the best holistic service we possibly can for our customers. 

We can guarantee there's more brilliance to come and we invite you to be a part of it! Talk to us if you'd like to know more.