Naperville Cybersecurity Firm Founded by Priya Mehta Doubles Headcount in a Year

Priya Mehta's Naperville-based cybersecurity consulting firm, Meridian Defense, has doubled its headcount over the past year, growing from roughly 50 to more than 100 employees as demand for financial sector cybersecurity work has surged given Chicago's concentration of trading and exchange technology firms.

Mehta founded Meridian nine years ago after leaving a cybersecurity role at a large financial services firm, initially focusing on smaller commercial clients before winning a series of contracts with trading firms and exchange technology providers that now make up the majority of the firm's revenue. The company specializes in securing high-frequency trading infrastructure, a category of cybersecurity work that has become increasingly urgent as trading systems face growing sophistication in attempted breaches.

"We started out doing security assessments for local businesses that just needed help passing an insurance audit, and now the bulk of our work is protecting systems where a breach could cost a client millions of dollars in minutes," Mehta said. "The growth over the last year has really been about finally having the reputation and the past performance record to compete for bigger contracts."

The company's growth has been driven partly by increased regulatory requirements around trading infrastructure cybersecurity, which has pushed many firms to seek outside verification rather than handling assessments internally. Mehta said Meridian has had to significantly expand its recruiting efforts to keep pace with demand, competing for cybersecurity talent against much larger firms downtown.

Meridian Defense reported approximately $17 million in revenue last year, up from roughly $8 million the year before. Mehta said the company plans to lease additional office space in Naperville later this year to accommodate its growing staff.