Devence

Solution

Devence

Helping start-ups and scale-ups grow in a responsible manner

Devence is created to help, advise and provide tech-driven start-ups and scale-ups to thrive and grow together towards a more sustainable and responsible future. We combine risk, compliance, sustainability and data expertise to help you manage risks and focus on what’s most important to the business.

The Challenges of Tech Start-Ups and Scale-Ups

Are you a tech-enthusiast with a passion for innovation and always on the lookout for ways to improve your business? Are you ready to be the next start-up or scale-up that will make the  difference? Then you are at the right place! Developing your start-up or scale-up and growing fast could lead to different challenges. For instance:

  • Having trouble with the cyber security of your technology?
  • Struggling with scaling your business?    
  • Wasting time trying to figure out how to use personal data in line with privacy laws, such as GDPR, and ethical standards?
  • Trying to ensure good quality standards for your data?
  • Having issues complying with new laws and regulations in the (technological) domain applicable to your business?
  • Preparing for tough demands from investors, stakeholder or (corporate) clients?

The more you grow, the more complex your business becomes, and so does the level of risk you face. The good news is, we can help you! Devence can help you navigate through these challenges and prioritize what your business needs to be doing so that you are able to focus on what matters most to you. Devence was born in Deloitte’s office. The Devence Team consists of tech-enthusiasts, risk-, compliance-, and data-experts with a passion for innovation. 

Learn more about how to risk proof your business

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How Can Devence Help You?

We as Devence think along with your organization. As enthusiastic experts within the start- and scale-up community, we understand the challenges associated with growing a new business. We help you navigate your challenges, and help you prioritize what needs to get done. In this way, you can grow safely and responsibly. We offer services in the five following categories, namely: Cyber Security and Scalability; Data Privacy, Ethics, and Compliance; Data Quality & Insights; Digital Controllership; and Sustainability.


Cyber Security and Scalability

  • Securing your data and related processes is key to companies. Your data and resources define you as a company, so loss and unauthorized access to this must be prevented. By focusing on cyber security, you can maintain confidentiality of your data  without compromising on scalability and efficiency,even when your company grows.
  • We want to help you prioritize your efforts in cyber security based on your ambition and maturity level, with a wide range of services. We could help you with strategic discussions where we understand your needs and define together the starting point (e.g.: cyber program roadmap or preparation for external certifications). Besides that, we can perform technical testing that is most relevant to your business and crown jewels (e.g.: penetration testing, code scanning, and cloud security assessment, among others).


Data Privacy, Ethics and Compliance

  • In order to do business responsibly, you need to know the relevant laws applicable to your business, have certain technical knowledge, and be aware of how to implement these in your company. All three of these requirements are codependent, and we can help you with understanding how to fulfill these requirements.
  • We offer services such as an awareness training, strategy lab, and help shaping an ethical framework and roadmap. This can be used to assess your data processing and the way in which your company incorporates privacy.


Data Quality & Insights

  • Taking care of your data quality as soon as possible enables you to scale much easier in the long-run. Correcting data once your business has already grown will be much more costly and time-consuming. We can help gaining insight into possible areas of improvement in your data, and help you grow whilst still retaining high-quality data.
  • To improve data quality and be able to gain relevant insights out of the data that you use within your business, we can help you set up a data quality strategy and roadmap. Besides that, we can perform technological analysis by using machine learning techniques to find patterns in your data that could help you with relevant insights to grow in a more efficient way.


Digital Controllership

  • Your company needs to be prepared for the future. We can help you create smarter means of operating your finance and control processes. By being prepared, this allows you to show investors and stakeholders performance reports whilst never taking time away from growing your company as much as you can.
  • We will prepare you based on analysis, interviews and a workshop for the next steps in providing reliable and high-quality reporting to meet the demands of regulators, investors and tax authorities, and to inform the organization’s operational and strategic financial management. We will guide you in your journey and will continuously prepare you for the next phase.


Sustainability

  • With the ever-growing increase in awareness on sustainability, more and more companies will also be required to demonstrate they have a considered, end-to-end approach to managing environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Both investors and consumers are becoming more focused on the importance of sustainability and we can help you develop a clear and strategic, company-wide approach to managing sustainability.
  • We offer support for implementing a low-carbon strategy, risk assessment and modelling, as well as data tools for autonomous climate reporting. Our calculations and reports on sustainability take the work out of your hands and allow you to focus on growing your business successfully and responsibly.

Help, Advise and Energize the Up and Coming

We are eager to build a better and more responsible future, together with our clients. The community of start-ups and scale-ups inspire us as they are not afraid to reinvent or repurpose, or even completely scrap the status quo. We believe in a world in which these new tech companies redefine the economic era. We have started to co-create, simplify, and make processes smarter and leaner. We are Devence, nurtured by Deloitte and ready to help, advise, and energize the up and coming. Interested? Please get in contact with us!

Ready. Set. Grow.

Contact

Rob de Leeuw

Rob de Leeuw

Partner

Rob de Leeuw is a Partner at Risk Advisory who used to lead the Dutch Operational Risk Team. He has more than 15 years’ working experience in a wide range of risk transformation programmes. His experi... More

Ron Felix

Ron Felix

Senior Manager

Ron Felix is Devence lead within Deloitte Risk Advisory. Devence has been initiated in order to support Start-ups and Scale-ups with growing in a responsible way. The team has a focus on: Cyber Securi... More