Dave Merkel, Yanek Korff, and Justin Bajko Recognized as Business Pioneers by Global Professional Services Firm
Press releases · Cole Finch
Herndon, VA, May 19, 2022 – Expel, the managed detection and response (MDR) provider that aims to make great security accessible, today announced that Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) named Dave Merkel, Yanek Korff, and Justin Bajko finalists for the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2022 Mid-Atlantic Awards. Entrepreneur Of The Year is one of the preeminent competitive business awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies who think big to succeed.
Merkel, Korff, and Bajko founded Expel after recognizing multiple significant problems that were dragging the cybersecurity industry down, namely:
- Too many confusing security products delivering reams of alerts
- Not enough security talent to prioritize the alerts and effectively manage the risk
- MSSPs who had failed to deliver on their promises
Expel’s mission is to make security easy to understand, easy to use, and easy to continuously improve. The Expel team promises to show customers that security can be delightful.
“Being named a finalist for this prestigious award is validation of the results that Expel and all our Expletives are delivering on behalf of our customers,” said Dave Merkel, co-founder and CEO of Expel. “While this is an award to recognize founders, we wouldn’t be in this position as finalists without our incredible team. We share this honor with everyone at Expel. By the way, we’re hiring.”
Merkel, Korff, and Bajko were selected by a panel of independent judges according to criteria covering entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
Regional award winners will be announced on June 29, 2022. The regional winners will then be considered by the National independent judging panel, and National awards will be presented in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Award in June 2023.
For over 35 years, EY US has celebrated the unstoppable entrepreneurs who are building a more equitable, sustainable and prosperous world for all. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 10,000 US executives since its inception in 1986. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners have exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of fellow alumni and other members of the entrepreneurial community in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources.
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards are presented by PNC Bank. In the Mid-Atlantic, sponsors also include ADP, CBRE, Cooley LLP, Donnelly Financial Solutions (DFIN), DLA Piper LLP, and Kelly Benefits Strategies.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind.
It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National overall winners go on to compete for the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ title. ey.com/us/eoy
About EY Private
As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.
Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst & Young Global Limited operating in the US.
About Expel
Expel is a managed detection and response (MDR) provider whose vision is to make great security accessible. The company offers 24×7 security monitoring and response for cloud, hybrid and on-premises environments. Expel uses the security signals customers already have so organizations can get more value from their existing security investments. And Expel connects to customer tech remotely through APIs, not agents, so its security operations center (SOC) can start monitoring a customer’s environment in a matter of hours, letting their internal teams get back to focusing on the most strategic security priorities that are unique to their business. For more information, visit our website, check out our blog, or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Contact
Andy Rodger
andrew.rodger@expel.io
Editor’s note: The following buzzwords were banned from this press release in no particular order: autonomous, military-grade intelligence, elite, artificial intelligence, leveraging, powerful, robust, changing threat landscape, end-to-end, actionable, real-time, machine learning, state-of-the-art, best-of-breed, continuous and purpose-built.
