Former Madrid Deputy Mayor Begonia Villachis has announced that she has signed on with Madrid-based cybersecurity firm BeDisruptive, where she will serve as Director of Institutional Relations. Thus, the former leader of Ciudadanos in the capital returns to the private sector after the party failed to win representation in the May 23 elections.
Vilasis, a lawyer by training, headed Legalitas’ tax, labor and commercial law department until 2015, when he ran for mayor of Madrid. The former politician is now moving into a very specialized sector in which he has previous experience, although BeDisruptive recalls that during his time as deputy mayor “he led a cyber security cluster project, where universities, specialist consultants and industry associations are currently participating in this effort. Strengthening of teaching in this field”.
“At a strategic moment for BeDisruptive, which aims to strengthen its position in the cyber security sector, Begoña Villacís will be the link between the company and public administration, organizations and private individuals, promoting their security and supporting transformation processes. Digital”, he explained. The firm said in a statement.
BeDisruptive has offices in Madrid, Rome and Panama and plans to open new branches in Washington and Milan. Founded in 2016, the company has seen a huge jump in results over the past three years. According to Insight View portal access reports consulted this way, BeDisruptive closed 2020 with three employees and 36 million euros in revenue, with a net profit of 4 million. A year later, the company registered sales of 50 million euros and a net profit of 6 million, with a staff of 10 people.
In 2022, the firm tripled profits to more than 17 million euros, closing the year with 65 employees and sales of around 82 million. BeDisruptive currently has about 200 employees.
Its main investor is Cofides, a public-private company that manages public funds and its own resources. Through several rounds of funding totaling five million euros, the fund (which only invests in Spanish companies) has helped the company expand internationally.
BeDisruptive CEO José Ángel Delgado welcomed Villacís to the company’s “phase of growth and consolidation.” “Begoña clearly represents BeDisruptive’s values: he is innovative, approachable, tough and disruptive. I can’t think of a more suitable person than Begonia to represent BeDisruptive to institutions.”
Vilasis, for his part, emphasized the need to “make society aware of the importance of protecting our systems and data from possible threats that may arise, because we will not have freedom without security.”
Source: El Diario