Half of all cyber-attacks target small and medium-sized businesses, as well as mid-sized companies. In order to protect them, Paris-based startup BonjourCyber has developed a tool that “closes the main hacker entry points”. A solution that the startup hopes to deploy both in France and internationally.
Is in this context that BonjourCyber has just raised its first round of financing to rapidly roll out its offering. The startup has raised a total of €1 million from Pascal Teurquetil, an independent investor and former CEO of the Muller Group. The aim: to develop its services and technology and conquer new markets. “We want to take advantage of the current momentum in cyber. The coverage rate is really low and the risk is growing. We want to bring about an acceleration in the market”, says the CEO Farid Lahlou.
With this funding, the startup founded in 2022 aims to improve efficiency. “The idea is to develop a cyber cockpit, with automated tools,” adds Lahlou. At the same time, BonjourCyber, which is positioned in an international market, wants to expand rapidly abroad. “We already have customers in Luxembourg and the United States. Cyber attacks are international, and all companies, everywhere in the world, are exposed. So our aim is to be strong in France, but also to seek out opportunities elsewhere”, continues the CEO, who plans to open an office in Luxembourg by the end of the year, and eventually set up in the USA.
To achieve its objectives, the startup plans to double its workforce by the end of the year, in particular, to bolster its sales and marketing teams. Last year, one in two companies was the victim of a cyber attack. More than 50% of these were SMEs. And 86% of these companies have not implemented any cybersecurity measures. These were the findings of Farid Lahlou, and his partners Yann Repérant and Renaud Granier, before they founded BonjourCyber.
They identified three issues. The first one is that there are many entry points to cybersecurity. So people generally don’t know where to start. Secondly, managers often don’t speak the cyber language, which can be discouraging. Finally, there’s the question of cost. If so few companies are equipped, it’s because they don’t allocate a budget to it.
To meet these challenges, the three entrepreneurs have developed “easily deployable services to close the hackers’ main doors”. The BonjourCyber tool has three components. Firstly, it targets fishing, via campaigns designed to raise awareness among all company employees. Secondly, it deploys penetration tests. The final vertical concerns backup. “An effective disaster recovery plan is essential. In the event of an attack, the most important thing is to regenerate the data to get business up and running again as quickly as possible”, stresses the CEO.
