What BruCON does

BruCON (legally BruCON vzw/asbl) is a Belgian non-profit that has organized an annual security and hacker conference since its founding in 2009, currently preparing its 18th edition (0x12) for September 2026. The organization operates two seasonal training programs — Spring (April) and Autumn (September) — alongside a two-day single-track conference held at Lamot Mechelen, with overflow training rooms at Hotel Vé and Novotel Mechelen. Its technical footprint includes a complimentary conference Wi-Fi network (sponsored by Exclusive Networks), an on-site Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), YouTube-based media distribution via the @brucontalks channel, and a public archive of presentations dating to 2010 at files.brucon.org.

The core product surface consists of three revenue streams: conference ticket sales, paid training courses (10 per edition across 2-day and 3-day formats with early-bird, regular, and late pricing tiers), and corporate sponsorship packages ranging from €1,500 Silver to €7,000 Diamond plus After Dark and Streaming tiers. Training prices span roughly €1,890 for a 2-day course to €3,599 for premium 3-day classes such as Corelan Heap, with trainers receiving a 50% revenue split. Ticketing runs through pretix.eu, and call-for-papers through Sessionize. The organization is volunteer-led by a 14-person crew including Philippe Bogaerts, Liam Deferm, Xavier Mertens, Bertrand Varlet, Koen Burms, Hendrik Derre, and others, supported by an operations headcount of nine.

BruCON serves a hybrid audience of individual security professionals (red, blue, and purple team operators), enterprise sponsors (Toreon, Cegeka, CCB, Elastic, PwC, NTT DATA, and others), and community organizations (OWASP Belgium, BSides Limburg, Cybersecurity Café Limburg, def.camp). Its go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: marketing runs through LinkedIn, X/Twitter, YouTube, newsletter, and the conference itself, with distribution via in-person attendance in Belgium and virtual Zoom attendance for select training. Recent strategic additions include a Spring Training season, the Villages program (IoT/ICS, Hardware Hacking), the BruCON After Dark evening event, and an AI-security training vertical introduced for 0x12.

Name

BruCON

Legal name

BruCON vzw/asbl

Website

https://brucon.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BruCON is a Belgian non-profit that runs an annual two-day security and hacker conference in Mechelen plus seasonal paid training courses, serving cybersecurity professionals, corporate sponsors, and community organizations across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cybersecurity Events & Training

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal & Compliance Conferences (MPAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Security conference
• Hacker conference
• Cybersecurity training
• Infosec education
• Security community events

Headquarters

HQ city

Drieslinter

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Conference Tickets: Ticket sales for the annual security conference. Ticket sales open on specific dates with sales going faster each year. Conference pass provides access to talks, workshops, and conference activities.
2. Training Courses: 2-day and 3-day technical security training courses offered in Spring (April) and Autumn (September). Pricing varies by course type with early bird, regular, and late pricing tiers. Trainers receive 50% profit split.
3. Sponsorship Packages: Corporate sponsorship tiers including Diamond (€7,000), Gold (€4,000), Silver (€1,500), Catering After Dark (€3,000), and streaming sponsorship. All sponsorships include logo on website and during streams, social media mentions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

BruCON is a Belgian non-profit that organizes an annual two-day security and hacker conference in Mechelen, Belgium, complemented by a deep-technical training program (Spring and Autumn editions) offering 2-day and 3-day hands-on security courses. The conference combines keynotes, talks, workshops, Capture the Flag competitions, Villages (IoT/ICS, Hardware Hacking), and the new BruCON After Dark evening event, attracting approximately 600 attendees and relying on expert trainers from the global security community.

Product overview

BruCON is a non-profit annual security and hacker conference with two main offerings: the BruCON Security Conference (two-day event with keynotes, talks, workshops, and community activities) and the BruCON Training Program (world-class deep-technical security training in 2-day and 3-day formats). The conference runs single-track with approximately 600 attendees, while training offers 10+ courses covering offensive, defensive, and hybrid security topics from beginner to advanced levels. Event activities include Villages (interactive hands-on spaces), Capture The Flag competitions, and the new BruCON After Dark evening event. Training is available in-person (Mechelen venues including Novotel, Lamot, and Hotel Vé) and virtual (Zoom).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BruCON Security Conference Annual two-day single-track security and hacker conference in Mechelen, Belgium providing an atmosphere for open discussions of critical infosec issues, privacy, information technology and its cultural/technical implications on society. Attracts approximately 600 attendees with keynotes, talks, workshops, and security challenges.
• BruCON Training Program World-class deep-technical security training program offering 2-day and 3-day courses led by recognized industry experts. Covers offensive, defensive, and hybrid security topics for red, blue, and purple teams, with topics spanning hardware hacking, exploit development, cloud security, malware analysis, and AI security. Available in-person at Mechelen venues and virtually via Zoom.
• Capture The Flag (CTF) Competition Online Capture the Flag cybersecurity competition starting on the first conference day and ending Friday at 15:00, with winners and prizes revealed during the closing talk.
• BruCON Villages Interactive self-contained spaces for hands-on learning and experimentation including IoT/ICS Village, Hardware Hacking (Ko-Lab Hackerspace), and retro gaming activities.
• BruCON After Dark New evening event extending the Thursday conference program with various activities, offering an additional networking and entertainment experience for attendees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 600+ attendees annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ToreoncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiamond sponsor of BruCON. Toreon is a cybersecurity company providing enterprise security services.
• CegekacoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiamond sponsor of BruCON. Cegeka is a Belgian IT services company.
• Center Cyber Security Belgium (CCB)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiamond sponsor of BruCON. The Belgian Center for Cyber Security is the national authority for cybersecurity.
• ElasticcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiamond sponsor of BruCON. Elastic provides search and analytics solutions including security products.
• Elastic (Elastic.co)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiamond sponsor providing infrastructure for conference streaming and technical needs.
• Exclusive NetworkscoreTechnology or IntegrationProvides complimentary Internet access for BruCON visitors, enabling the conference Wi-Fi network infrastructure.
• Davinsi LabsmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor of BruCON. Davinsi Labs provides security assessment services.
• AlteredSecuritymajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor of BruCON. AlteredSecurity provides hands-on enterprise security training.
• CorelightmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor of BruCON. Corelight provides network security monitoring solutions.
• Black Hills Information SecuritymajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor of BruCON. Black Hills Information Security provides penetration testing and red team services.
• NTT DATA (FutureBlue)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerParty sponsor for After Dark event. NTT DATA is a global IT services provider.
• SpotitminorGTM or Marketing PartnerParty sponsor for After Dark event. Spotit is a Belgian cybersecurity company.
• Crimson7minorGTM or Marketing PartnerStreaming sponsor of BruCON. Crimson7 is a Brussels-based AI product studio.
• PwCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerStreaming sponsor of BruCON. PwC provides professional services including cybersecurity consulting.
• EpsilonminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver sponsor of BruCON. Epsilon is a security company.
• Xavier MertensminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSilver sponsor of BruCON. Individual security professional and BruCON crew member.
• OWASP BelgiumminorOthersBruCON supports OWASP Belgium Chapter - open web application security project community.
• Cybersecurity Café LimburgminorOthersLocal cybersecurity community organization in Limburg region supported by BruCON.
• BSides LimburgminorOthersSecurity BSides conference in Limburg supported by BruCON.
• defcampminorOthersRomanian security conference community supported by BruCON.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Security BSides: Security BSides is a community-driven security conference umbrella with chapters worldwide (including BSides Limburg, which BruCON explicitly supports); directly comparable as a grassroots infosec gathering with similar community-led ethos.
• DEF CON: DEF CON is the largest annual hacker and security conference globally; directly comparable to BruCON as a community-driven infosec gathering featuring talks, villages, training, and CTFs, though at significantly larger scale.
• Insomni'hack: Insomni'hack is a long-running Swiss-based security conference and CTF event; directly comparable to BruCON as a European, independent, community-organized offensive-security conference of similar scale.
• Troopers: Troopers was a Heidelberg-based annual security conference with strong technical training offerings; directly comparable to BruCON in combining a European infosec conference with deep-technical training tracks.
• OffensiveCon: OffensiveCon is a Berlin-based annual conference focused exclusively on offensive security research; directly comparable to BruCON's offensive-leaning training catalog and red-team audience.
• Black Hat: Black Hat is a leading global information security conference series featuring technical briefings and training; highly comparable to BruCON in combining a conference with deep-technical training delivered by recognized experts.

Broad incumbents

• SANS Institute: SANS Institute is a dominant global cybersecurity training and certification provider; comparable to BruCON Training in delivering paid deep-technical security courses, though as a much larger, multi-vertical commercial operator.
• RSA Conference: RSA Conference is the largest enterprise-focused information security conference worldwide; comparable to BruCON in serving the security community but at vastly larger scale and with a broader commercial/enterprise audience.

Regional players

• Nullcon: Nullcon is a long-running India-based security conference and training event; comparable to BruCON in offering both a conference and hands-on technical training, but operating primarily in Asia rather than Europe.

Emerging players

• OWASP Global AppSec Conference: OWASP Global AppSec is the flagship application-security conference of the OWASP Foundation, with Belgium chapter explicitly supported by BruCON; comparable as a community security conference with training, focused more narrowly on application security.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brucon
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@brucontalks/playlists
• Facebookfacebook.com/brucon
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brucon_2

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 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 BruCON