Irish cybersecurity start-up Cytidel raises €1.3m in funding round

Irish cybersecurity start-up Cytidel has raised €1.3 million in funding as it eyes growth in its product offering and plans to expand staff numbers.

The seed funding round was led by Elkstone Ventures, with participation from Enterprise Ireland. Cytidel plans to grow its engineering operation, adding up to 10 jobs in the next 12 to 18 months. It now employs six people.

Cyditel is a cyber risk management platform that helps organisations predict threats and protect their most critical revenue streams. Founded by Matthew Conlon and Conor Flannery, the company has bootstrapped [self-started and managed] its growth until now. Its software ranks the cyber risks in terms of how big a threat they pose, analysing several factors such as threat intelligence, critical revenue streams and regulatory requirements. That allows companies to allocate resources in the right place at the right time, making their cybersecurity defences more efficient.

Mr Conlon said the platform would provide clarity from the noise of cybersecurity threats for overstretched professionals.

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“That level of detail hyper-focuses on what you need to fix today rather than trying to fix everything, which is chaotic,” he said.

Although the company funded itself in the early days, through consulting contracts that made it profitable, Mr Conlon said the addition of venture capital funding would allow it to grow quicker. The company met Elkstone early on and kept in contact as it developed.

“We could have built this business by going for the bootstrapping model, but it wouldn’t have been an IPO, or a €100 million or €200 million business down the line. If you wanted to bootstrap it you could easily get this to a €10 million or €20 million business, sell it and do very well for yourself. Going down the VC [venture capital] route makes that faster. It’s exciting.”

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Elkstone venture partner Barry Brennan said he had been impressed by Mr Conlon’s early vision for Cytidel. “We were delighted to see the fantastic additions of Conor and Gary to the team with incredible expertise in threat intelligence and building technology solutions that customers love,” he said. “We are also impressed by the calibre of customers the company has garnered in such a short span. Cytidel has a huge opportunity ahead to reduce cyber threats significantly in Ireland and globally.”

Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney welcomed the funding.

“Ireland is at the forefront of development and innovation in the international cybersecurity sector ... Today’s announcement is a significant milestone for this ambitious and dynamic company.”