MailGuard’s Craig McDonald Wins the 2019 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award
Announcement posted by Pearcey Foundation 28 Aug 2019
The Pearcey Foundation today announced Craig McDonald, founder and CEO of MailGuard and BlackEvents, as the winner of the 2019 Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. The award, in its 20th year, was presented last night by the international thought-leader Roger Taylor, Chair of the UK Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, who also gave this year’s Pearcey Oration at the dinner.
MailGuard was founded in Melbourne by Craig in 2001, and is now the largest privately owned cloud email security provider in the world. The company operates in over 27 countries, has more than 500 channel partners worldwide, offers 100% guaranteed availability and maintains a quintessential focus on serving its customers and their users. That focus delivers a remarkable customer retention rate of 98%. MailGuard is integrated with all the major email platforms, and is the preferred supplier and partner for some of the world’s largest companies, including Microsoft.
“Craig has built a globally leading cyber security business from the ground up, which is particularly impressive because he is not a technically trained professional. He is absolutely committed to the vision of technology delivering to us a better world. MailGuard AI-powered cloud cyber security solutions help to protect us from the ever-present and ever-evolving threats to our users and our enterprises. He runs his business with a focus on his people and operates an impressive internship program, helping to build a stronger base for the future of the ICT ecosystem in Australia,” said Jordan Green, Victorian Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
After an email-borne virus caused havoc for his company, Craig realised how vulnerable businesses are to cyber threats and it inspired him to start MailGuard. MailGuard leads the way in cloud email security, providing protection, continuity and archiving in a single, integrated cloud solution. In 2016, MailGuard was the only cybersecurity vendor invited by Microsoft to join the pilot of its CSP marketplace, along with a handful of other leading Microsoft partners. This was the predecessor for Microsoft’s new unified marketplace, connecting with an ecosystem of more than 70,000 Microsoft partners globally.
Craig’s focus is to protect the state of the nation, by supporting and educating businesses who continue to struggle with email security. Recently Craig authored Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime, a non-technical executive guide, to enable business leaders to be more proactive tackling the threats posed by cybercrime. Craig believes MailGuard’s constantly evolving, leading-edge technology has the potential to secure the future of the digital economy.
“Craig epitomises the values of the Pearcey Foundation. He took a risk to start his companies, to change the world for the better and to do it all from a base in Melbourne, long before we even had the concept of a tech startup,” said Wayne Fitzsimmons, Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
The Pearcey Oration dinner and awards event was supported by the Victorian Government and forms part of its Digital Innovation Festival (DIF2019) program. DIF2019 runs over two weeks from 23 August to 6 September and is a unique initiative to develop, demonstrate and promote technology innovation across every sector of the economy and society.
For more information about the Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Awards, go to https://pearcey.org.au/vic.
Other State Awards
National Pearcey Awards
The National Pearcey Awards will be presented at the University of Melbourne on 14 November as part of a special event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the creation of CSIRAC: Australia's first computer and the world's fourth. More details on the event are still to be confirmed.
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About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.
MailGuard was founded in Melbourne by Craig in 2001, and is now the largest privately owned cloud email security provider in the world. The company operates in over 27 countries, has more than 500 channel partners worldwide, offers 100% guaranteed availability and maintains a quintessential focus on serving its customers and their users. That focus delivers a remarkable customer retention rate of 98%. MailGuard is integrated with all the major email platforms, and is the preferred supplier and partner for some of the world’s largest companies, including Microsoft.
“Craig has built a globally leading cyber security business from the ground up, which is particularly impressive because he is not a technically trained professional. He is absolutely committed to the vision of technology delivering to us a better world. MailGuard AI-powered cloud cyber security solutions help to protect us from the ever-present and ever-evolving threats to our users and our enterprises. He runs his business with a focus on his people and operates an impressive internship program, helping to build a stronger base for the future of the ICT ecosystem in Australia,” said Jordan Green, Victorian Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
After an email-borne virus caused havoc for his company, Craig realised how vulnerable businesses are to cyber threats and it inspired him to start MailGuard. MailGuard leads the way in cloud email security, providing protection, continuity and archiving in a single, integrated cloud solution. In 2016, MailGuard was the only cybersecurity vendor invited by Microsoft to join the pilot of its CSP marketplace, along with a handful of other leading Microsoft partners. This was the predecessor for Microsoft’s new unified marketplace, connecting with an ecosystem of more than 70,000 Microsoft partners globally.
Craig’s focus is to protect the state of the nation, by supporting and educating businesses who continue to struggle with email security. Recently Craig authored Surviving the Rise of Cybercrime, a non-technical executive guide, to enable business leaders to be more proactive tackling the threats posed by cybercrime. Craig believes MailGuard’s constantly evolving, leading-edge technology has the potential to secure the future of the digital economy.
“Craig epitomises the values of the Pearcey Foundation. He took a risk to start his companies, to change the world for the better and to do it all from a base in Melbourne, long before we even had the concept of a tech startup,” said Wayne Fitzsimmons, Chair, Pearcey Foundation.
The Pearcey Oration dinner and awards event was supported by the Victorian Government and forms part of its Digital Innovation Festival (DIF2019) program. DIF2019 runs over two weeks from 23 August to 6 September and is a unique initiative to develop, demonstrate and promote technology innovation across every sector of the economy and society.
For more information about the Victorian Pearcey Entrepreneur Awards, go to https://pearcey.org.au/vic.
Other State Awards
- ACT: to be held on 10 October at the Canberra Press Club. See further https://pearcey.org.au/act.
- NSW: to be presented on 10 October at the NSW Startup Hub. Please register here.
- QLD: to be held in collaboration with CICTA (Council of ICT Associations in Queensland) on 15 October at Hillstone, St Lucia. See further https://pearcey.org.au/qld.
- SA: nominations are now open for the 2019 South Australian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. Event details to be finalised shortly.
- TAS: nominations are now open for the 2019 Tasmanian Pearcey Entrepreneur Award. Event details to be finalised shortly.
- WA: presented to Robert Nathan as part of the WAITTA Incite Awards on 14 June.
National Pearcey Awards
The National Pearcey Awards will be presented at the University of Melbourne on 14 November as part of a special event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the creation of CSIRAC: Australia's first computer and the world's fourth. More details on the event are still to be confirmed.
--
About the Pearcey Foundation
The Pearcey Foundation Inc. is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to raise the profile of the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry and profession. It was created in the memory of one of the greatest pioneers of the Australian ICT industry, Dr Trevor Pearcey. By celebrating the heroes in our industry, past present and future, the Foundation is looking to attract and encourage young Australians into this most exciting of global high technology sectors of our nation.
- Web: www.pearcey.org.au
- Twitter: @Pearcey_org #PearceyAwards #PearceyOration #DIF2019
- LinkedIn: Pearcey Foundation #PearceyAwards #PearceyOration #DIF2019