Cyber-risk modelling company DeNexus is on the hunt for someone local to run their new office in Bermuda.

DeNexus founder and chief executive officer José Seara told The Royal Gazette he had hired a recruiter and was interviewing candidates.

“It is an executive role, someone who will report to the board of the company,” Mr Seara said. “Our business on the island is about risk transfer so we need risk transfer expertise rather than cyber-risk modelling expertise, and probably someone with experience in capital markets. If Bermuda was not a great place to find that, we would not be here.”

Mr Seara estimated it would take two or three months to find the right person. And if DeNexus does not find someone locally, they will bring in someone from overseas.

Until then, Mr Seara and DeNexus senior adviser, Jeffrey Sirr, will be back and forth to Bermuda from their base in Sausalito, California.

Mr Seara set up DeNexus in 2019 and has 30 employees. He hopes to double that soon and has recently opened offices in Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

DeNexus incorporated in Bermuda in August.

Mr Sirr said that a major factor for choosing the island was the Government’s support for new types of companies in a global-risk centre.

They are still awaiting final approvals for their sandbox licence from the Bermuda Monetary Authority.

“We began the process two months ago,” Mr Seara said. “They keep asking questions, which is probably good news. They are showing us that they are really thorough in the approval process.”

Mr Sirr said going through a rigorous process to get into Bermuda was ultimately good for DeNexus’s reputation.

“Things have gone more or less as I expected,” Mr Seara said. “Again, it is the first time that we have been through this process, so I did not have any real expectations, but it is a pleasant surprise, the level of comprehensiveness that the BMA is using during the process. They keep asking good questions and a lot of questions that indicate that they don’t want bad companies on the island.”

Two weeks ago, Mr Seara organised the DeNexus Cyber Thought Leadership Group in the boardroom of the Bermuda Stock Exchange on Pitts Bay Road, Hamilton. More than 30 people from Bermuda, America, the Caribbean and Europe attended.

“We want to make that an annual event,” Mr Seara said.

Local stakeholders at the meeting included customers, the Bermuda Business Development Agency, the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers, and ILS Bermuda.

“The main theme of the day was building trust among the different constituencies,” Mr Seara said. “We spoke openly, all day, about the challenges and opportunities for the different constituencies in the room.”

DeNexus asked participants whether they were buying cyber insurance and if not, why not. They also tackled perception of their products.

“It was highly confidential but it was a terrific conversation,” Mr Seara said.

Mr Sirr said they also talked about how Bermuda had helped to solve risk problems.

DeNexus recently launched its DeRISK 5.0 Platform, aiming to improve on how risk owners understand, mitigate and transfer the risks associated with cyber breaches.

Some financial experts have pointed towards a recession next year in Europe, England and the United States, but Mr Seara was not worried.

“Nobody has a crystal ball,” Mr Seara said. “I am trying to understand the implications for our company. The space we operate in is somehow protected from some of these developments. If the world collapses, it collapses for everybody, but if the world goes through a challenging time, there will be activities heavily impacted and less impacted.

“The problem we are trying to tackle is there to stay and keeps growing. It needs a solution.”

The new DeNexus office will be at 22 Victoria Street, Suite 501.