What ShadowHQ does

ShadowHQ is a Toronto-based cybersecurity software company, founded in 2021, that sells a secure out-of-band crisis management platform to enterprise security and business continuity buyers. The platform is purpose-built to remain operational and undetected when corporate infrastructure — including single sign-on (SSO) — is compromised during an active breach, addressing what the company characterizes as the primary vector in roughly 80% of modern attacks. Target buyers are CISOs, security leadership teams, disaster recovery teams, compliance officers, and risk management personnel, primarily at enterprise customers that require a sales-led, demo-based procurement motion.

The core ShadowHQ Platform consists of several integrated modules. The Playbook Manager centralizes incident response procedures for rapid deployment; the Virtual Bunker provides an isolated communication environment that stays operational when standard channels are compromised; Virtual War Rooms offer built-in chat, task management, and employee status indicators; and Tabletop Exercises support scenario-based preparedness training. Supporting capabilities include multi-channel alerting (SMS, email, push), detailed audit trails and compliance reporting, and SOC 2 Type 2-certified security controls. The architecture's defining technical property is its out-of-band design — the platform is engineered to be invisible to attackers who already control SSO and standard corporate collaboration tools, a positioning that third-party analysts (EMA, CyberSecurity Breakthrough) have publicly validated.

ShadowHQ operates a subscription-based enterprise SaaS business model. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is set through a sales-assisted, demo-based quote process with annual billing cadence. Distribution is primarily direct enterprise field sales, supplemented by channel partnerships with KPMG and Calian, which embed ShadowHQ into professional services cybersecurity engagements. The company serves a horizontal mix of enterprise customers across technology, financial services, professional services, healthcare, and the public sector, including named logos such as Arcadia, Miovision, eSentire, Countrybank, ArchCare, KPMG, and Calian. Marketing relies on content (blog, readiness assessment), 15-minute on-demand demo webinars, and partner referrals to drive demo bookings rather than self-service PLG motion.

Name

ShadowHQ

Website

https://shadowhq.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ShadowHQ is a Toronto-based cybersecurity SaaS company that sells an out-of-band crisis management platform to enterprise CISOs and disaster recovery teams, enabling secure coordination when corporate SSO and standard communications are compromised during active breaches.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Incident Response Software

NAICS

Security Systems Services (except Locksmiths) (561621), Security Systems Services (56162)

akta.pro primary industry

Secrets Management & Cloud Key Management (KMS, Vaults) (HDADADAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Secrets Management (Passwords, API Keys, Tokens) (HDADAFAD), Cloud Security Logging, SIEM/SOAR & Threat Detection (HDABAHAL)

Keywords

• Incident response platform
• Crisis management software
• Out-of-band communication
• Cyber breach coordination
• Business continuity planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: Cloud-based platform sold as a subscription service to enterprise customers. The platform is accessed via login and provides incident response, crisis management, and business continuity planning capabilities on a recurring subscription basis.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ShadowHQ provides a secure, out-of-band cyber crisis management platform that remains operational when corporate SSO credentials are compromised during active breaches. The platform centralizes incident response playbooks, virtual war rooms, multi-channel alerting (SMS, email, push), and compliance audit trails, enabling enterprise security teams to coordinate breach response on isolated infrastructure that attackers cannot see or touch.

Product overview

ShadowHQ is a unified out-of-band cyber crisis management platform designed to help organizations maintain operational capability during active breaches. The core ShadowHQ Platform provides secure, isolated infrastructure for incident response and crisis coordination. Key modules include Playbook Manager for centralizing response procedures, Virtual Bunker for secure team communication when standard channels are compromised, and Tabletop Exercises for preparedness training. The platform supports incident preparedness, crisis management and response, business continuity planning, and compliance use cases.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ShadowHQ Platform A secure, out-of-band cyber crisis management SaaS platform that enables CISOs, security leaders, and disaster recovery teams at enterprise organizations to coordinate incident response and crisis management when corporate infrastructure and SSO credentials are compromised during active breaches.

Quantifiable outcome

• SSO credential theft drives nearly 80% of breaches, making out-of-band response capability critical

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• KPMGcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerKPMG is a professional services partner that delivers cybersecurity services to enterprise clients. KPMG has recognized ShadowHQ as a significant game-changer for incident response coordination, noting its ability to enable organizations to rally and respond in a coordinated fashion with direct correlation to speed and cost of recovery.
• CaliancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCalian and ShadowHQ have partnered to elevate cyber crisis readiness. Calian is a professional services company providing cybersecurity and technology solutions. The partnership combines Calian's expertise with ShadowHQ's platform to deliver enhanced incident response capabilities to clients.
• Enterprise Management Associates (EMA)minorOthersEMA, an enterprise technology research firm, has recognized ShadowHQ in their analyst research. EMA's Research Director noted that ShadowHQ is revolutionizing the incident response space and that having policy and playbook templates readily available is a massive time saver for practitioners.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Tines: No-code automation platform purpose-built for security and IT teams, with enterprise customers running incident response playbooks. Directly comparable to ShadowHQ on enterprise focus, automation-driven workflows, and similar company stage.
• D3 Security: SOAR platform focused on incident response orchestration and automation for enterprises and MSSPs. Directly comparable to ShadowHQ in playbook-driven incident response and security operations automation.
• Swimlane: Pure-play SOAR platform that orchestrates incident response, automates playbooks, and integrates with the broader security stack. Closest direct competitor in the SOAR/incident response workflow category ShadowHQ serves.
• Resolve Systems: Security automation and orchestration platform focused on accelerating SOC and incident response workflows. Comparable to ShadowHQ in playbook automation and SecOps use cases for enterprise customers.
• Torq: Hyperautomation platform for security operations targeting enterprise SecOps teams. Comparable to ShadowHQ in customer base, automation-led incident response, and similar growth-stage profile.

Others

• Everbridge: Critical event management and mass notification platform used for crisis coordination and stakeholder communication. Comparable to ShadowHQ on the crisis communication and stakeholder coordination use case, but at a larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• TheHive Project: Open-source incident response platform with case management and collaboration features. Comparable to ShadowHQ on the incident response workflow but positioned as a free/open-source alternative rather than an enterprise SaaS platform.

Broad incumbents

• Palo Alto Networks (Cortex XSOAR): Major SOAR platform within Palo Alto Networks' broader security portfolio. Represents the broad incumbent threat: a much larger vendor offering incident response orchestration as part of an integrated security suite that includes Cortex XSIAM and XDR.
• Splunk SOAR (Cisco): Enterprise SOAR platform (formerly Phantom) now part of Cisco. Comparable to ShadowHQ in incident response orchestration, but bundled within a much larger analytics and security platform and accessible to enterprise buyers at scale.
• ServiceNow Security Operations: Security incident response module within ServiceNow's broader ITSM and workflow platform. Comparable to ShadowHQ on incident response workflows, but anchored in a much larger enterprise system of record.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/getunio

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 ShadowHQ