In early 2022, Dominique Calder’s relative lost nearly $20,000 in a cryptocurrency scam.

“[W]hen I was helping the family member review things,” explains the PhD candidate in Computer Science at George Mason University, “I was able to pretty much pinpoint the server where this origination occurred.”

A few months later, when Calder’s trainee and friend, Emanuel Perez, outlined an idea for a business to make the web3 space, where many cryptocurrency transactions take place, more secure, Calder was eager to help. Pérez got the idea for the business when he noticed a phishing scam in a group chat for investors interested in cryptocurrency.

“This is happening throughout the community, even to people who know things about crypto. They’re still being scammed, because scammers are that good.” Calder said.

In early November, as finalists in the Black Ambition Prize contest, Calder and Perez won $50,000 to develop Novus Security, Inc.

novus security inc.

Calder and Perez started the business in March 2022 and applied for Black Ambition in late June, mainly to gain some exposure, Calder says.

“It’s really gotten a lot of attention,” says Calder. Perez, an entrepreneur at heart, says his ambition to create Novus Security Inc. is different from previous efforts: He left a full-time job at Microsoft to work at his startup full-time.

Since the contest, Novus has made rapid progress. The company is incorporated, and the co-founders plan to grow their team in the coming year. Ultimately, Calder and Perez plan to develop an application to detect potential Web3 phishing scams and foster a Web3 cybersecurity community.

“We also wanted to be a community for passionate users of Web3, [such as] people who like crypto and buy NFTs and things like that,” Calder explains. “We want a community to be built where we can detect scams [and] let people know… ‘Hey, this is the new way scammers are approaching.’ So we want an educational aspect around [Novus] also.”

Web3 is a decentralized version of the Internet based on public blockchain. While the burgeoning space and its decentralized premise attract users, the risks of engaging in an inherently unregulated space are all too apparent. Pérez explains that the same risks for surfing the Internet on Web2, the version of the Internet that most people use, are raised on Web3. For example, when trading assets on Web3, Perez says, the user, rather than a third party like a bank, must take significant risk; the user is in charge of protecting these assets.

Also, scammers are quickly adapting to Web3. Perez recalls a joke about Web3 developing ten times faster than other industries, noting that the speed with which threats develop poses a challenge for traditional cybersecurity systems. Calder says there are many free public sites, like VirusTotal, that are working to combat phishing on Web2. She explains: “You can go there and put up a site…and they’ll give you a certain level of confidence like, ‘This site is probably suspicious based on these factors.’ We want that for the Web3 space, because nothing like that exists at the moment.”

A balanced partnership

Both Norfolk State University alumni, Calder and Perez, met when Calder returned to the school in 2017 as a recent graduate to speak with computer science students.

“I did a short spiel about my trip and how difficult things were for me,” Calder recalls. “The [Perez] he was so moved that he came up to me and asked me to guide him, because he was considering dropping out of school. He really surprised me that he would even come up to me and ask me, you know, for him to lead him, let alone… that he was in a position that I was once myself in.”

“We formed a great friendship,” she adds, “He graduated last year. [2021] …and got a job at Microsoft right out of college. That is the dream of any student, right?

Co-founders have complementary skill sets. While Calder studied computer science with a concentration in information assurance for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Pérez chose to study business management information systems. Calder notes that combining their different perspectives has been “helpful”, adding that their contrasting abilities help to sharpen each other.

“I have a lot of technology experience myself,” Calder explains. While a graduate student at George Mason, he also worked for TikTok, where he was a founding member of their digital forensics team. She adds: “Having someone like Emanuel, who has had a lot of business experience, has been great… We have to figure out a lot on our own… but we have a great relationship. We trust each other. We have a brother/sister type relationship more than just business partners.”

hometown pride

Since both Calder and Perez are natives of Virginia Beach, Virginia, it was even more meaningful to receive the prize money as the culmination of a massive and positive event in their hometown. Founded by Pharrell Williams and directed by Felecia Hatcher, the Black Ambition Prize competition awarded more than $2 million to finalists representing innovative companies in various industries. The contest was held as part of the Mighty Dream Forum, a three-day conference on diversity, equity and inclusion. Williams is also from Virginia Beach.

“It was great to see that level of creativity [and] that level of business is being brought to our area,” Calder says. “He did something for the community. It revived something that we were missing”

Calder notes that the area has recently lost business due to violence in the area.

“We are losing a lot of areas for people to hang out and do things and have fun and be safe,” he says. “So to see a local hero … rain down $2.5 million to a group of people who really needed it was great.”

Of the win, Calder says, “We didn’t even imagine this for ourselves at one point, but there was a time in life where we got to see it for ourselves, and see all of it manifested onstage that day.” [when] We were standing there with the check, it’s like, ‘Wow, things really can happen with some good work and effort.'” Being a part of this huge event in his hometown “put the icing on the cake” for his $50,000 winners. Calder says.

As finalists, the Novus co-founders now have access to a network of expert advisors, as well as fellow budding entrepreneurs. Calder has enjoyed meeting so many interesting people. “I love every moment,” she says.

Next for Novus

For now, the co-founders are focused on getting their app on the Chrome web store.

“Development is still underway, but the next thing is definitely getting the app out there for them to use,” says Calder. “Every day, people fall victim to scams.”

Perez says that he and Calder plan to keep their team small. However, they expect to add new people in the coming year, specifically a full-stack software engineer and a security engineer, respectively.