BRUSSELS, 22 March 2024 – The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of its flagship event “the ECSO Award Finals” 2024, held on 21-22 March in Bochum, Germany. The event, co-organised with partners Bochum Economic Development, the Women4Cyber Foundation, and eurobits e.V., marked a successful convergence of European cybersecurity innovators. With the overarching goal to empower the European cybersecurity market, the event showcased cutting-edge start-ups and solutions, and strengthened collaboration within the industry through two prestigious competitions: the ECSO STARtup Award and the ECSO CISO Choice Award. ONEKEY emerged as the most promising European start-up 2024, winning the ECSO STARtup Award, while ASTRAN was honoured with the most promising European solution 2024, winning the ECSO CISO Choice Award.

In the heart of Bochum, Germany, on the 21-22 March, ECSO recently concluded the 2024 edition of its annual event: the ECSO Award Finals. This collaborative event, co-organised with Bochum Economic Development, Women4Cyber Foundation, and eurobits e.V., transformed into a dynamic hub of innovation, where the brightest minds in European cybersecurity gathered over the course of two days.

ECSO’s Chairman, Axel Deininger, has expressed that “ECSO is not just talk, it is action. The ECSO Award Finals exemplify this commitment to action. Through our renowned matchmaking events, we elevate top-tier European cybersecurity start-ups and scale-ups. We bring together different European cybersecurity ecosystems and cybersecurity market players to build valuable partnerships. Collaboration is our core, and together, we are shaping the future of cybersecurity in Europe.”

The ECSO Award Finals is a flagship event that unites stakeholders from European cybersecurity ecosystems, cultivating a sense of community, and highlighting innovative talent among start-ups and scale-ups. This gathering encourages collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and networking, elevating European innovation and advancing cybersecurity across the continent.

“It was great to be the hotspot of the European cybersecurity scene in Bochum for two days. With 500 IT companies and 40 cybersecurity start-ups, our city is both a field of innovation and a growth industry and, together with university excellence research, forms a stable ecosystem.“ Emphasises Dr. Thomas Wollinger, Innovation Manager at Bochum Economic Development.

“In the dynamic cybersecurity environment, start-ups are the key factor for the EU’s growth and competitiveness in this market. That is why we at eurobits actively support start-ups and see them as an important part of the ecosystem in NRW as well as nationally.” Expresses Dr. Heiko Koepke, Member of Executive Board of eurobits e.V.

Two prestigious competitions, the ECSO STARtup Award 2024 and the ECSO CISO Choice Award 2024, took centre stage.

 ECSO STARtup Award

The first day of the event saw the ECSO STARtup Award take place, with start-ups from across Europe pitching to a panel of European expert judges. After an intense competition amongst the nine finalists Build38, CDeX, Cycommsec, INLYSE, Modino.io, ONEKEY, OutKept, Seculyze, and Skyld, ONEKEY emerged victorious, claiming the title of “Europe’s Most Promising Cybersecurity Start-up 2024” with its groundbreaking focus on automated security and compliance analysis for industrial (IIoT & ICS), manufacturing (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

“I am delighted to receive this important European award and international recognition on behalf of the entire team. At ONEKEY, we enable our customers to reduce the effort, time and cost of product cybersecurity and compliance through a holistic management platform that automates most manual tasks. Existing and upcoming new regulations, such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act, are enforcing higher cybersecurity standards for all manufacturers – ONEKEY is here to help turn these burdens into a competitive advantage for our clients.” Said Jan Wendenburg, CEO at ONEKEY.

 ECSO CISO Choice Award

The second day of the ECSO Award Finals featured the ECSO CISO Choice Award, where a European Judging Panel, composed of expert Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), selected the most promising cybersecurity solution in Europe. Among fierce competition between the six finalists Astran, B!nalyze, CDeX, Cyber Trust Europe, Secfense, and Sekoia.io, ASTRAN emerged as the winner with its innovative solution focused on ensuring business continuity in the face of ransomware. This recognition highlights the company’s capacity to safeguard Europe’s digital ecosystem and reflects its significant contributions to the cybersecurity industry.

“Thank you ECSO and thank you to the Jury. We are very proud of this award, especially as it comes from very experienced CISOs in leadership positions.” Said Yosra Jarraya, CEO and Co-Founder of ASTRAN.

The Women4Cyber Awards

At the ECSO Award Finals, ECSO, Bochum Economic Development, eurobits e.V., and Women4Cyber came together to also honour women leaders and organisations advancing gender equality in cybersecurity. This initiative celebrates women’s contributions while recognising companies fostering diversity. Two W4C Awards, the W4C Entrepreneurship Award for women-founded or inclusive cybersecurity firms, and the W4C Recognition Award for those promoting gender diversity, were presented.

“This award is wonderful recognition of our commitment to diverse and inclusive leadership in our industry. Half of our partners are women and it is known that innovative solutions are more likely to be created by highly diverse teams.” Says Reshma Pandohi Mishre, co-founder and partner of ModelVerse, this year’s winner of the W4C Entrepreneurship Award. Madina Michaelides, CEO and Co-Founder of Anima People, winner of this year’s W4C Recognition Award has expressed “Thank you for this award and for your hard work and dedication to supporting women in cybersecurity. My dream is that women represent half of all leadership in security, duly paid, bringing with them a wealth of rich knowledge and experience from multiple backgrounds and disciplines.”

ECSO, together with partners, extends heartfelt congratulations to ONEKEY, ASTRAN, ModelVerse and Anima People for their well-deserved recognition and applauds their achievements, which exemplify the quality that underscores the existing talent and innovation on the European cybersecurity market, reinforcing its resilience.
The success of the ECSO Award Finals 2024 also demonstrates the commitment of ECSO and its partners to promoting innovation, collaboration, and excellence in European cybersecurity.

Download the Press Release PDF here.