Founders Everywhere: Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O'Bryan
Gadalia O'Bryan is the co-founder & CEO of Dapple Security, a cybersecurity company providing fingerprint-based login for businesses to stop phishing and prevent breaches before they start.
Welcome to Founders Everywhere, where we highlight the incredible people behind the companies we’ve backed at Everywhere Ventures, a global pre-seed fund supported by a community of 500 founders and operators.
The ubiquity of hackers and the rising threat of AI-driven attacks pose a real threat, especially to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who are often targeted because they lack robust cybersecurity infrastructure. Dapple Security protects people and privacy with their unique approach to authentication by leveraging users' biometrics like fingerprints or face to create a digital "lock and key." Unlike traditional methods, Dapple Security only stores the digital lock in the cloud, granting users access to their accounts across various devices, without needing to store the biometric nor secret key. They also offer a recovery mechanism, ensuring the key is never lost; bid farewell to the hassle of texts, calls, and emails for 2FA and password retrieval.
Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O'Bryan, co-founder and CEO of Dapple Security, served as a cryptomathematician at the National Security Agency (NSA) for nearly a decade where she led large-scale security and cryptographic evaluations. Transitioning to executive roles in the private sector, she helped bring one startup to a successful exit. Gadalia is an advocate for fostering entrepreneurship and interest in STEM fields, focusing on increasing equity and representation in technology and using technology and data for good. Gadalia teamed up with Keith Bucher, a software engineer and architect, who was actually the first person she ever hired many years ago. Together with Alie Slade, Dapple’s Head of R&D, they’re combining biometrics with cryptography to put digital access, identity and security back into the hands of the human who owns it.
Say goodbye to passwords and hello to passkeys and passprints!
What inspired you to found Dapple Security?
I founded the company because I believe in the technology and want to solve livelihood-threatening cybersecurity problems for SMBs. Another big motivation is that I want to be the change that I'd like to see in the tech world. I want to promote inclusivity and equity, challenging the status quo about who can be a founder and what the startup culture should be like. Not only am I really focused on the tech, but I care deeply about the kind of culture we’re creating.
What is Dapple Security’s North Star?
Trust. This applies not only to building trust with our customers, but also fostering a culture of trust within our team. It’s key for both external success and internal cohesion.
What makes Dapple Security a must-have vs a nice-to-have?
Around 90% of security breaches start with a stolen login. Our product addresses a critical need, especially for SMBs, who are targeted by cyberattacks at three times the rate of their larger counterparts. The average cost of a breach is $3 million for SMBs, which could be enough to put them out of business. Our solution offers essential protection against such threats.
Tell us about a milestone Dapple Security crushed.
We recently closed a $2.3M pre-seed raise. We also have a patent pending for our unique deep tech involving biometrics to generate a digital key.
What’s on the horizon for Dapple Security?
We are currently in alpha mode and we aim to launch our beta version in the summer, and subsequently have a commercial launch later in the year. Our focus is on serving SMBs in the US initially, but we're open to expansion opportunities in the future. Additionally, we're committed to continuing our research and development efforts to stay at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation.
How do you maintain a work-life balance?
Family, kids, and animals are a good forcing function for balance. Besides spending time with my family, I adopted a rescue horse, which has always been a dream of mine. I spend time at the barn every single day. It forces me to put work aside and go do something that occupies a different headspace for a few hours. It’s really important so I don't get burned out and it makes me work more efficiently.
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