Author(s): Dr. Prem Prakash Dewani and Karnika Bains
WebAccessPro, a cyber-security start-up with less than 100 employees and faced the issue of the product’s adoption, while also wanting to expand. Most of its revenue was currently being obtained by government departments, denting the cash flow of the business. The business wish to move to a more liquid market and the management was wondering if they should foray into an aggregator marketplace platform, listing suppliers and customers worldwide, while also selling its own products via this platform. The brand is relatively newer and lesser known, and hence, the customers were skeptic of moving away from other established global brands. While the competition in the market offered multiple solutions and products, WebAccessPro specialized in an AI-enabled security product for websites, applications, and against data leak threats. It is a self-learning and self-healing product based on machine learning. The case deals with a hightechnology product facing an adoption challenge in the market. The company is struggling with customer acquisition for trial, and customer retention for repeat purchase.