Security VAD Kompingo emerges from stealth mode

Distribution outfit run by industry veteran Toby Caton signs handful of vendors including Gytpol

A new security VAD fronted by a former e92plus and Exclusive Networks executive has signed its first vendors.

Launched in June by industry veteran Toby Caton, Kompingo has a mission of seeding the market for "intuitive" US and Israeli security start-ups that generate high margins for resellers.

It has already inked contracts with five vendors including Tel Aviv-based configuration management platform Gytpol and Paris-headquartered intrusion detection outfit Gatewatcher.

Caton was previously sales director at e92plus and has also worked for Exclusive Networks and Spinnakar, the latter of which recently sold up to Climb Channel Solutions.

He is Kompingo's largest shareholder.

"I feel I've learned from the best people in the industry. I've worked with Neil Ledger and Ian Morris [formerly of VADition and EquIP]. They've done it two or three times and Mukesh [Gupta, CEO of e92plus] is also very successful. I'm hoping it rubs off on how we grow our business," Caton (pictured below) said.

The recent sale of the likes of Spinnakar and Ignition has left a gap in the market for a new VAD, Caton argued.

"If you look at people like Distology and Kite, they've done a similar thing to us, which is to look for intuitive products and help those vendors grow. What we're trying to do which is different is bring fresh tech to resellers that is going to sell because there is a requirement for it, but also that resellers can make good money on," he said.

"The other thing that is key is making sure we blend the tech with the services off the back of that."

Caton claimed that Gytpol had been met with a "phenomenal reception" from resellers.

"Microsoft said recently that 80 per cent of [ransomware] hacks are through misconfigurations, so it's a massive area. Gytpol goes off onto your network and not only finds the misconfigurations but also allows you to auto remediate. It's a problem that's been around for 20 years but noone's been able to fix it or, certainly, auto remediate it."

Caton also earmarked new signing Gatewatcher as one to watch, admitting it isn't yet isn't well-known outside its native France.

"The reason we're getting a lot of hype [around Gatewatcher] is the cost of the product compared with Darktrace in particular, and the way that it works - it's a hardware appliance," he said.