Organised together with secunet Network Security AG and TeleTrust
To further boost business interactions between European investors and cyber security startups and SMEs, European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) held the fourth edition of its Access-to-Market-&-Finance series, titled Cyber Investor Days.
On 27-28 November, Cyber Investor Days took place in Berlin, Germany. The Berlin edition of ECSO’s Access-to-Market-&-Finance series was organised together with the leading German cybersecurity company secunet Network Security AG and TeleTrust – IT Security Association Germany. The event gathered 90 participants from across 12 different European countries.
On the first day, international and German investors participated at the ECSO’s technical workshop on “Innovative Business Models in Cyber Security” to address the challenges and opportunities of cyber security investment and market consolidation in Europe, as well as to share the existing good practices on how to increase the attractiveness of the European cyber security market.
On the second day, 23 pre-selected startups covering the entire cyber security value chain and 35 investors engaged in the strategic business matchmakings, which resulted in a more than 60 business-to-business meetings. After the opening remarks, two pitching sessions for startups and SMEs, followed by individual business-to-business meetings, took place.
In his opening remarks, Andreas Koenen, Director General CI, Cyber and Information Security at German Federal Ministry of Interior, Building and Community, emphasized the strategic importance of cooperation with the private sector in securing country’s infrastructure and its digital sovereignty. According to him, such initiatives as Cyber Investor Days help to develop the position of startups and SMEs in the global cyber security ecosystem.
The event was also attended by the representatives of the European Investment Bank (EIB): Francisco Alves da Silva, Venture Debt/Quasi-Equity Investment Officer at EIB, gave a presentation on the currently available instruments, especially the venture debt instrument, for supporting the competitiveness of the European companies.
The Cyber Investor Days were closed with a panel discussion “The Challenge: From Innovative Ideas to Market-Ready Cyber Security Solutions”. Business representatives from Enigmedia, Giesecke+Devrient Ventures GmbH, ZITIs and Redstone Digital discussed the successful strategies for operating in the competitive cyber security market and the challenges of scaling-up process for startups.
The different editions of ECSO’s Access-to-Market-&-Finance series aim to cover different investment phases, ranging from the seed-stage to strategic investments, to the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) stage. The previous editions were organised with the most recognized European cybersecurity ecosystem stakeholders, including Startup Estonia, Systematic Paris-Region and EIT Digital Accelerator.
