What CyGO Entrepreneurs does

CyGO Entrepreneurs is a European cybersecurity venture studio headquartered in Lyon, France (with hosting infrastructure in Paris) that co-founds and scales cybersecurity startups alongside technical and business founders. Rather than acting as a traditional investor or accelerator, the studio positions itself as an operating co-founder: it recruits Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, supplies a dedicated product team (Product Manager, UX Designer, CTO-in-residence), provides pre-company and pre-seed capital, handles company incorporation (legal, HR), and deploys a European-wide sales and marketing playbook to scale portfolio companies. Its primary customers are European cybersecurity founders and its secondary network is a community called Le Club, composed of Cyber Builders — security practitioners at end users, integrators, and consulting firms who provide market intelligence and product validation.

The studio's portfolio comprises seven announced cybersecurity product spaces: ProductX (a Virtual AppSec Team that automates vulnerability remediation in developer workflows), DataX (unified IT and security data intelligence with AI-driven threat hunting), New Identity (privacy-preserving digital identity using DIDs, VCs, and Zero Knowledge Proofs), Get Ready (an AI-driven cyber resilience platform with readiness scoring and crisis simulation), Intelligent Security (NLP-driven security automation for non-experts), AI Trust (a platform addressing data integrity, hallucinations, and bias in generative AI), and Beautiful Smalls (an affordable cybersecurity platform targeting SMBs). Underlying technology spans natural language processing, predictive analytics, anomaly detection, generative AI tooling, and process automation, applied across the portfolio rather than as a single proprietary stack.

The business model is equity-based: CyGO generates returns through ownership stakes in the companies it co-builds, and it does not publicly disclose pricing or service fees. Its GTM motion is community-led, anchored by the Cyber Builders Substack newsletter and the Le Club community, with the funnel oriented toward attracting founders and practitioners rather than driving demand for a finished product. The company employs a core team of two co-founders (CEO Laurent Hausermann and COO Aurélie Clerc) plus four founding partners who act as weekly advisors, and operates within a broader network of 20+ seasoned entrepreneurs across cybersecurity, AI, data, and B2B software.

Name

CyGO Entrepreneurs

Legal name

CyGO Entrepreneurs

Website

https://cygo-entrepreneurs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CyGO Entrepreneurs is a France-based cybersecurity venture studio that co-founds European cybersecurity startups, providing pre-seed capital, product teams, and go-to-market support in exchange for equity across a portfolio of seven product spaces.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cybersecurity Venture Studio Services

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Venture Studios & Incubators (Build/launch ventures) (FSANAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

Keywords

• Venture studio services
• Cybersecurity startup building
• Pre-seed venture investing
• Founder partnership program
• Security product development

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Venture Studio / Equity Model: CyGO Entrepreneurs generates returns through equity ownership in the cybersecurity startups they build and co-found. They provide capital, product development support, and operational expertise to portfolio companies in exchange for equity stakes.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

CyGO Entrepreneurs is a cybersecurity venture studio that partners with European founders to ideate, build, incorporate, and scale global cybersecurity companies. It supplies pre-seed capital, a dedicated product team (Product Manager, UX Designer, CTO-in-residence), and a European-wide sales and marketing playbook in exchange for equity stakes in the resulting startups. It has announced seven portfolio concepts spanning AppSec, security data intelligence, digital identity, cyber resilience, AI-driven security operations, AI trust, and SMB protection.

Product overview

CyGO Entrepreneurs is a venture studio that builds and scales global cybersecurity champions across Europe. The company offers a portfolio of seven distinct cybersecurity products: ProductX (Virtual AppSec Team for developers), DataX (IT & Security Data Intelligence), New Identity (Privacy-Preserving Digital Identity), Get Ready (Cyber Resilience), Intelligent Security (AI-driven automation), AI Trust (Generative AI trust and security), and Beautiful Smalls (SMB cybersecurity). These products are developed through a structured venture-building process combining ideation, product development, company incorporation, and European-scale go-to-market execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Le Club: Community of Cyber Builders working as security professionals at end users, system integrators, or consulting companies.
• Cyber Builders

Products and services

• ProductX – The Virtual AppSec Team A Virtual AppSec Team offering that automates vulnerability remediation, provides in-context security guidance, ensures compliance, and integrates seamlessly into developer workflows; aimed at engineering and application security teams.
• DataX – IT & Security Data Intelligence A unified cybersecurity data platform enabling clear security metrics, AI-driven analysis, and advanced threat hunting, with a focus on European data sovereignty; targeted at security operations and SOC teams.
• New Identity – Privacy-Preserving Digital Identity A decentralized, privacy-first identity verification solution built on Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), Verified Credentials (VCs), and Zero Knowledge Proofs to reduce compliance burdens while preserving security and user control; aimed at organizations needing verifiable, privacy-preserving identity.
• Get Ready – Cyber Resilience for Modern Threats An AI-driven platform providing a secure fallback work environment, cyber resilience assessment, readiness scoring, and realistic crisis-response simulations; targeted at organizations seeking to validate and improve their cyber resilience posture.
• Intelligent Security AI-driven cybersecurity tools that educate, explain, and automate security operations using natural language, designed to make cybersecurity approachable for non-experts; aimed at organizations that need to extend security capabilities beyond specialized staff.
• AI Trust A platform addressing trust, security, and ethics challenges in generative AI by tackling data integrity, confidentiality, ethical concerns, hallucinations, bias, and intellectual property protection; aimed at organizations deploying or consuming generative AI.
• Beautiful Smalls An affordable, comprehensive cybersecurity platform designed to protect small and medium-sized enterprises from cyber threats, democratizing cybersecurity beyond traditional antivirus and firewall offerings; targeted at SMBs.
• Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) Program

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cyber BoostercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCyber Booster is an intensive 100% business and cybersecurity acceleration program. Aurélie Clerc, COO & Co-Founder of CyGO Entrepreneurs, led Cyber Booster since 2021. There appears to be strong operational and programmatic alignment between the two organizations, with shared focus on cybersecurity entrepreneurship in Europe.
• Fédération Française de Football (FDJ)minorOthersAurélie Clerc, COO & Co-Founder, previously served as Head of Innovation at FDJ before joining CyGO Entrepreneurs. This represents a prior employment relationship rather than an active partnership.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Highline Beta: Venture studio that builds and invests in startups alongside corporate partners, taking operational co-founder roles. Comparable venture-building approach with corporate-venture alignment.
• Entrepreneurs First (EF): Talent-first venture studio that matches technical and commercial co-founders to build deep-tech and enterprise startups from inception. Comparable founder-recruitment and co-founder studio model.
• TheVentureCity: Venture studio and early-stage fund that builds startups with founders using a product-led, data-driven methodology. Comparable founder-support and venture-building playbook.
• Hexa (formerly eFounders): Paris-based venture studio that builds and co-founds B2B SaaS startups with founders, providing product, design, engineering, and GTM teams in exchange for equity. Closest functional analogue to CyGO's venture studio model, though broader in vertical focus than cybersecurity.
• Antler: Global venture studio/early-stage investor that recruits founders and helps them build companies from day zero, providing capital, coaching, and operational support. Comparable as a founder-first studio model with multi-region presence.

Broad incumbents

• Y Combinator: Premier global accelerator funding thousands of startups including a meaningful cybersecurity cohort. Comparable as a founder-first seed investor, though not vertical-specialized in cybersecurity.
• Techstars (cybersecurity programs): Global accelerator running cybersecurity-focused batches (e.g., Techstars Cyber). Comparable as a structured founder-support program, but accelerator rather than long-horizon studio.

Emerging players

• Auriga Cyber Ventures: European specialist cybersecurity VC fund co-founded by CyGO founding partner Thierry Rouquet. Highly relevant as a cybersecurity-dedicated capital provider competing for the same founder pool, though operating as a fund rather than a builder.
• Cyber Booster: French cybersecurity acceleration program led by CyGO COO Aurélie Clerc since 2021. Comparable cybersecurity-specific founder-acceleration program with deep operational and programmatic alignment to CyGO.

Regional players

• Station F: World's largest startup campus based in Paris, hosting numerous programs and partners including Cyber Booster (closely tied to CyGO's COO). Relevant as the French ecosystem hub where CyGO sources founders and runs programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CyGO Entrepreneurs