The 11th ECSO Cyber Investor Days Start-up Event

The 11th ECSO Cyber Investor Days took place on the 27-28th June 2022, in Dublin, hosted by Enterprise Ireland and Cyber Ireland in partnership with the European Cyber Security Organisation.
The Cyber Investor Days is a matchmaking initiative designed to provide access-to-finance and access-to-market opportunities for European cybersecurity start-ups and SMEs.
Over 30 applications were received from cyber security companies across Europe seeking investment and partners, with 12 companies selected for the pitch-day to investors in Dublin.

Funding Gap for Start-Ups

The initiative aims to address a significant funding gap between Europe and the US in terms of investment in cybersecurity companies, with those in the US raising up to four times more funding on average than European ones, according to Cyber Ireland cluster manager Dr Eoin Byrne.

A recent report by Cyber Ireland on the state of the cybersecurity sector in Ireland found that 26% of surveyed companies faced issues with raising or securing finance. This matchmaking event is critical to provide access to finance, and access to markets, for Irish and European companies to scale rapidly, increase sales and serve larger clients.

Day 1: Panel Discussions

The first day of the ECSO Cyber Investor Days is dedicated to cyber security experts meeting the investors. The event was opened by ECSO Secretary General Luigi Rebuffi. The first panel discussions explored the cyber implications of the war in Ukraine, while the second panel discussion the cybersecurity market challenges and investment needs in Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Day 2: Start-up Pitches

Twelve promising European cybersecurity companies, including 6 Irish, pitched their cybersecurity solutions to over 60 international investors, integrators and partners from Ireland and mainland Europe, including the European Investment Bank, TIIN Capital & Tikehau Ace Capital.

Two cybersecurity start-ups from the island of Ireland, Vaultree and Angoka, have been nominated for the European Cybersecurity Startup Award after taking part in a pitching event.

Start-up Pitch Finalists:

  1. Akeero (Ireland)
  2. Angoka (United Kingdom)
  3. Calldefender (Ireland)
  4. Crashtest Security (Germany)
  5. CyberPie (Ireland)
  6. CYS4 (Italy)
  7. Cytidel (Ireland)
  8. GuardYoo (Ireland)
  9. Mesh Security (Ireland)
  10. Oblivious.ai (Ireland)

Video courtesy of Silicon Republic.