Northsec

What Northsec does

NorthSec is a Montreal-based non-profit organization that operates Canada's largest applied security event, combining a two-day technical conference, a 48-hour on-site Capture-The-Flag (CTF) competition, and multi-day hands-on training sessions. Founded in 2013 (with spiritual predecessor HackUS at Université de Sherbrooke in 2010-2011), the event has grown from approximately 150 participants to over 1,300-1,500+ attendees across recent editions and has sold out every year since inception. The organization is governed by a Board of Administrators and an Organizing Committee of approximately 50 volunteers, with no paid staff; key leadership includes Maxime Voet (President of the Organizing Committee), Olivier Bilodeau (Vice-President of the Organizing Committee and Board member), and Jean-Sébastien Delorme (President of the Board and VP Training).

The product portfolio consists of three core pillars — Conference (talks, workshops, thematic panels), Competition (48-hour CTF with multiple physical tracks and 90+ teams), and Training (multi-day expert-led sessions on red teaming, application security, reverse engineering, hardware hacking, cloud, detection engineering, and AI security) — supplemented by Villages (community spaces including RF Village and Badge Museum), annually themed hardware badges, a themed Thursday party, a free archived content library on Peertube/YouTube, and an e-commerce merchandise store. The technology stack is operational rather than proprietary: registrations.nsec.io for ticketing, Discord for community, Peertube/YouTube for content distribution, and standard event-management tooling; no proprietary platform, AI/ML system, or software product is offered to external customers.

Revenue is generated through two streams: one-time ticket sales (CTF $290 CAD, Conference $440 CAD, Combo $590 CAD, with student discounts) and a multi-tier corporate sponsorship stack (Sustaining, Gold, Silver, Startup, Supporter, Association). Combined event budget exceeds 900k CAD. Sponsors include Devolutions, OKIOK, SentinelOne, Google, Flare, Wiz, CyberEco, Cobalt, GoSecure, Desjardins, Tenable, Corellium, Shopify, and Pvotal among others. The customer base spans security practitioners, students, managers/executives (roughly 10% of audience), and the volunteer workforce, with an explicit outreach program targeting underrepresented groups. The event is distributed through direct-to-consumer online registration, physical venue at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montreal, YouTube livestreaming, and the merchandise storefront at shop.nsec.io.

Name

Northsec

Legal name

NorthSec

Website

https://nsec.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NorthSec is a Montreal-based non-profit that organizes Canada's largest applied security event — a two-day conference, 48-hour CTF competition, and multi-day training sessions — serving cybersecurity professionals, students, and corporate sponsors through ticket sales and tiered sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Applied Security Conferences and Events

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Training, Enablement & Talent Development Summits (THAHAMAH), Professional & Certification Expos Organizers (THAHABAD)

Keywords

• Applied security events
• Cybersecurity conferences
• Capture the flag competitions
• Security training sessions
• Hacker conferences

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Revenue generated from selling tickets to training sessions, conference passes, CTF competition entries, and combo packages. The event has been sold out since inception in 2013.
2. Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships at multiple tiers (Sustaining, Gold, Silver, Startup, Supporters, Associations) providing budget support. Budget is over 900k CAD supported by sponsorship and participants combined.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NorthSec organizes and operates an annual multi-day applied security event in Montreal, Canada, delivering a Conference (talks and themed community villages), a Capture The Flag (CTF) Competition, and professional Training Sessions. Tickets for each track are sold individually or as combos, and the event also produces custom hardware badges and a merchandise store, all coordinated by an all-volunteer organizing team.

Product overview

NorthSec is a non-profit organization operating Canada's largest applied security event, consisting of a two-day technical conference, a 48-hour Capture The Flag (CTF) competition, and multi-day training sessions. The event also features Villages (community spaces with activities like RF Village, Pre-CTF zones, and Badge Museum), an annual themed party, and an online merchandise store. The portfolio centers on in-person cybersecurity education, competition, and community building in Montreal, Quebec.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Conference A multi-day conference track featuring talks from applied security researchers and themed community villages, sold via individual Conference tickets with discounted options for students.
• Capture The Flag (CTF) Competition A hands-on Capture The Flag competition where participants solve applied security challenges, sold via dedicated Competition tickets.
• Training Sessions Professional, paid security training sessions offered during the event week, sold via individual Training tickets with a 30% student discount.
• Online Store An online merchandise store selling event-branded apparel, stickers, and other NorthSec-themed goods.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sold-out event since inception in 2013
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered sustaining, gold, silver, startup, supporters, association, core and minor.

• DevolutionssustainingGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal software company helping organizations worldwide control IT chaos through password, remote connection, and privileged access management. Over 500,000 users across 140 countries. Major sponsor at Sustaining level.
• OKIOKsustainingGTM or Marketing PartnerCanadian leader in information security offering secure data transfer, encryption, identity management services, consulting, and training. One of few in Quebec doing R&D in the sector.
• SentinelOnegoldGTM or Marketing PartnerGold tier sponsor - cybersecurity endpoint protection company
• GooglegoldGTM or Marketing PartnerGold tier sponsor
• FlaregoldGTM or Marketing PartnerGold tier sponsor - threat intelligence company
• WizgoldGTM or Marketing PartnerGold tier sponsor - cloud security company
• CyberEcogoldGTM or Marketing PartnerGold tier sponsor - cybersecurity ecosystem organization based in Canada
• CobaltsilverGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver tier sponsor - penetration testing platform
• GoSecuresilverGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver tier sponsor - managed detection and response provider
• CorelliumsilverTechnology or IntegrationSilver tier sponsor providing mobile security testing platform. Offers Corellium Viper access to training participants.
• DesjardinssilverGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver tier sponsor - major Canadian financial cooperative
• TenablesilverGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver tier sponsor - exposure management company
• Pvotal TechnologiesstartupGTM or Marketing PartnerStartup tier sponsor - first startup category sponsor for 2026
• Root-Me PROstartupTechnology or IntegrationStartup tier sponsor - CTF training platform providing practice challenges for participants
• ShopifysupportersGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporter tier sponsor - e-commerce platform company
• ISC2 Ottawa ChapterassociationGTM or Marketing PartnerAssociation tier sponsor - professional security certification chapter
• HackFestassociationGTM or Marketing PartnerAssociation tier sponsor - another Canadian security conference
• Marché BonsecourscoreOthersPrimary event venue - historic market building in Old Montreal hosting conferences, CTF, and main event activities
• YWCA MontrealcoreOthersTraining venue location - provides space for hands-on training sessions during the event
• Hotel Zero1minorOthersOfficial hotel partner offering promotional rates for event attendees
• CyberEcominorOthersHosted volunteer training day for 2026 edition preparation

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• DEF CON: DEF CON is the largest and most established hacker conference in the world, featuring a flagship Capture-The-Flag competition. It is the clearest global benchmark for NorthSec's applied-security + CTF positioning.
• Black Hat: Black Hat is a major annual cybersecurity conference offering technical briefings, training, and Arsenal demos. Comparable to NorthSec's mix of high-quality training, technical talks, and applied security content aimed at practitioners.
• HackFest: HackFest is another Canadian security conference and is explicitly listed as an Association-tier sponsor of NorthSec. It targets the same cybersecurity practitioner audience in Canada with overlapping CTF and training content.
• BSides: BSides is a global network of community-driven security conferences. It shares NorthSec's volunteer-organized, community-first model and applies it to applied-security talks and workshops at smaller scale.
• Chaos Communication Congress (CCC): CCC is Europe's largest hacker conference with a strong community, technical program, and hacker culture. Comparable to NorthSec's themed, community-immersive applied-security positioning.
• Hack In The Box (HITB): HITB runs deep technical security conferences and CTF-style competitions globally. It directly parallels NorthSec's combination of trainings, conference talks, and applied-security competition format.
• TROOPERS: TROOPERS is a long-running European security conference focused on offensive security and research. It mirrors NorthSec's applied / offensive security practitioner audience and training-driven program.
• Nullcon: Nullcon is an annual security conference held in India that combines technical talks, trainings, and a CTF-style competition. Comparable in scope and audience to NorthSec's applied-security event format.
• Ekoparty: Ekoparty is a Latin American security conference focused on offensive security research and CTF-style competitions. Comparable to NorthSec in applied-security positioning and community-driven format.

Broad incumbents

• RSA Conference: RSA Conference is the largest commercial cybersecurity conference in the world. It is broader and more vendor-focused than NorthSec but competes for the same enterprise security audience and sponsor dollars.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/northsec_io
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/NorthSecIo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/northsec
• Instagraminstagram.com/northsec_io

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 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 Northsec