Alcyconie, a cyber crisis management consulting firm, raises €2 million to become the leading player in cyber resilience – Alcyconie

Press release – A €2 million fundraising round to become the leading player in cyber resilience

The crisis management and communication company Alcyconie, a specialist in cyber and digital crisis issues, announces a €2 million fundraising round from CyberK1, an investment vehicle founded and advised by Klecha & Co., a bank specialising in the digital sector. Through this operation, Alcyconie intends to recruit new profiles to consolidate and deploy its expertise in Europe.

At the same time, the company will strengthen its offer by providing an innovative SaaS solution to equip the crisis management of sensitive organizations.

Providing a concrete and pragmatic response to the intensification of the cyber threat

The number of cyberattacks continues to grow: in Europe alone, it jumped by 26% in 2022¹. And the consequences are increasingly important: it is now estimated that the average cost of a cyberattack exceeds 4 million euros².

Faced with this exponential threat and in a highly unstable geopolitical context, the question is no longer whether or when an attack will occur, but how to deal with it: this is the issue that Alcyconie addresses on a daily basis. Founded in 2018 by Stéphanie Ledoux, the company supports, prepares and advises strategic organisations (OIV/OSE, industrial groups, financial institutions, local authorities, healthcare players, etc.) in the prevention and management of these complex and high-impact situations.

In concrete terms, Alcyconie’s offering covers all stages of cyber crisis management:

• Prepare and anticipate (before the crisis): the company prepares organisations to deal with complex situations by formalising procedures and operational mechanisms (crisis management plans, reflex sheets, business continuity plans, etc.) and by training teams – management, technical, communication, legal – in immersive crisis exercises carried out on Alcyconie’s secure platform, ensuring a high level of security and realism.
• Responding and managing (during the crisis): as part of its 24/7 on-call service, the Alcyconie team advises crisis units on defining the appropriate crisis strategy and implementing contingency procedures to maintain the continuity of essential operations. It also supports them in internal and external crisis communication processes and on legal issues.
• Rebounding and rebuilding (after the crisis): the company supports all teams in the gradual resumption of their activities until a return to normal, while ensuring that trust is rebuilt with all stakeholders.

Better equipping crisis management to become a leading player in cyber resilience

With CyberK1 acquiring a stake in its capital, Alcyconie is focusing on expanding its offering to capture new markets across Europe. The company plans to diversify the training courses it offers its customers in order to meet growing demand: while more than 60 exercises were carried out in 2022 (more than one per week), activity is expected to double this year, with an average of two to three simulations per week. The operation will also enable the company to deploy a fully secure SaaS platform that is separate from the information systems of organisations that have been attacked. Currently in the testing phase, this platform will provide companies with a pre-configured bubble of trust to effectively manage the crisis. In order to support the company’s growth and the development of its unique solution on the market, Alcyconie will increase its workforce by the end of the year to complement its existing team of 12 people.

“We are delighted to partner with CyberK1 in the development of Alcyconie. There are still many challenges to be overcome in cyber and digital crisis management, which has become a real issue of resilience and reputation for organisations. Expanding our offering, which will include the development of a crisis management platform that is unique on the market, is essential to supporting them in their day-to-day issues and becoming the leader in cyber resilience in France and Europe,” says Stéphanie Ledoux, CEO and founder of Alcyconie.

Stéphane Klecha, managing partner of Klecha & Co. and chairman of CyberK1, adds: ‘We are delighted to be supporting Alcyconie in its development. Cyber and digital crisis management needs leading players, and we are convinced that the company has everything it takes to become the leader in this field.’

About Alcyconie

Founded in 2018 by Stéphanie Ledoux, Alcyconie is a pure-player consulting firm specialising in cyber and digital crisis management and communication. Its cybercrisis management as-a-service approach covers all stages of crisis management: crisis preparedness, cyber crisis training and simulations, cyber crisis monitoring and communication, 24/7 on-call service, and a unique crisis simulation platform (PIA®). Qualiopi-certified for its training activities, the firm has already supported around 50 companies and trained more than 1,500 people in cyber crisis management (executive committees, technical and legal teams, etc.). In 2022, Alcyconie joined Cyber Booster, France’s leading start-up studio dedicated to cyber security, and won the European Cyber Week Investor Day award. In 2023, the company raised €2 million from CyberK1.

About CyberK1

Vehicle founded and advised by Klecha & Co., a European private investment bank specialising in structuring mergers, acquisitions and fundraising in the digital sector. With around €10 million in assets, this investment vehicle aims to complement the bank’s offering by providing capital and advice to high-growth cyber companies. It is chaired by Stéphane Klecha, managing partner of Klecha & Co.