Cyscale is a prominent player in the cybersecurity industry, known for its innovative solutions in cloud security and data protection. Founded to address growing security concerns in cloud computing, Cyscale has carved out a niche, providing tools that help businesses secure their cloud environments and ensure compliance with industry standards.

This article will explore Cyscale’s journey, from its inception to its current standing, including its mission, products, target markets, and the challenges it has faced.

Company Background

Cyscale was established in 2018 by cybersecurity experts Ovidiu Cical, Manuela Țicudean, Andrei Milaș, and Laura Cical in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The founders saw an urgent need for effective security solutions tailored to the unique demands of cloud infrastructure, as traditional on-premises security tools were often inadequate for safeguarding data in increasingly complex cloud environments. Inspired by the rapid digital shift and the potential vulnerabilities it introduced, they aimed to create a platform that combines cloud visibility with precise, automated security controls.

The initial idea was to build a product that could monitor, manage, and secure cloud data in real time, preventing data breaches before they could escalate. By focusing specifically on cloud security, they differentiated Cyscale from conventional cybersecurity providers and enabled organizations to move to the cloud with enhanced safety and compliance. The founding team’s mission was grounded in the belief that businesses should be able to trust their data in the cloud without worrying about compromised security, even as their cloud environments grew more intricate.

Their early commitment to usability also played a role, as they wanted the platform to be accessible to both cybersecurity experts and general IT professionals. This emphasis on user-friendliness, coupled with the founders’ technical expertise, allowed Cyscale to quickly gain traction among early adopters in industries like technology and finance

Early Challenges and Milestones

During its early years, Cyscale faced several challenges common to cybersecurity startups. One major obstacle was gaining credibility in an industry where trust is paramount, especially since established companies often hesitate to rely on newer firms for essential security needs. The team also had to secure funding to support their initial development and establish their reputation beyond Romania.

In 2019, they joined the Techcelerator program, which introduced them to their first investors and gave them critical guidance to scale the company. GapMinder, a notable investor in Eastern European tech, provided Cyscale with €100,000 in initial funding, allowing the team to enhance their platform’s features and scale up operations. This marked a turning point, as they began gaining recognition outside Romania, particularly in Western Europe, where cloud technology adoption was growing quickly.

In 2021, they raised an impressive €350,000 on SeedBlink, the largest crowdfunding platform in Southeast Europe. This round closed within hours, exceeding its initial goal and validating Cyscale’s potential in the eyes of investors. The funds helped expand their product development, sales, and marketing efforts, particularly as they ventured into new regions like the U.S. and the UK

Another early milestone was the onboarding of several significant clients in the fintech industry, which helped establish Cyscale’s reputation as a reliable solution for cloud security. By 2023, Cyscale had grown to a projected valuation of around €30 million and expanded its workforce to 15 employees across locations in Romania, the UK, and Singapore. Their consistent progress, from securing seed funding to strategic partnerships, set the stage for their eventual rise as a recognized cloud security provider.

Timeline of Growth

Since its founding, Cyscale has evolved significantly. After establishing itself in Romania, the company started expanding internationally, targeting countries with high cloud adoption rates. These countries included Germany, the UK, and the U.S. Over a few years, Cyscale launched various innovative product updates that positioned it as a leader in cloud visibility, risk assessment, and compliance solutions. These updates allowed clients to gain real-time insights and automated recommendations to enhance their cloud security posture effectively.

Cyscale’s growth has been powered by successive funding rounds and an expanding client base, primarily consisting of tech companies and financial institutions that rely heavily on cloud infrastructure. Their €3 million seed round, led by Notion Capital and GapMinder, further enabled their scaling ambitions. This latest investment has allowed them to hire additional cloud security experts and sales professionals, paving the way for deeper market penetration in North America and Asia.

In recent years, Cyscale’s user base has expanded beyond Romania to include clients and partners across Europe and North America, particularly in fintech, which often operates in heavily regulated environments requiring stringent data protection. By 2025, Cyscale aims to serve over 1,000 clients and establish a global footprint as a trusted name in cloud security. The company’s growth trajectory is backed by a dedicated team and robust financial support, ensuring that its security solutions continue to address evolving market needs

Company Culture and Vision

Cyscale’s organizational culture centers on openness, collaboration, and a commitment to continuous improvement. Founded with the aim of empowering teams to innovate within cloud security, Cyscale promotes a culture where employees are encouraged to bring unique perspectives and actively contribute to product evolution. The company’s core values include transparency, hard work, and a strong emphasis on learning, creating a work environment where all voices are valued equally. This culture supports an inclusive team dynamic, with a balanced gender representation in a traditionally male-dominated cybersecurity industry.

At Cyscale, customer satisfaction is central to the company’s culture. They work closely with clients to understand specific challenges in cloud security, which directly influences product development. This customer-driven approach has been essential in creating solutions that are intuitive yet powerful, making advanced cloud security tools accessible even to teams without extensive cybersecurity backgrounds. Cyscale’s team members describe the workplace as challenging yet rewarding, with opportunities for both professional and personal growth as they address cloud security challenges together.

Cyscale envisions becoming a global leader in cloud security, with a specific focus on securing multi-cloud environments as they become increasingly complex. Their long-term goal is to expand their reach in North America, Western Europe, and Asia by 2025, scaling their client base to over 1,000 companies. This ambition is supported by their continued innovation in cloud-native application protection and compliance automation, ensuring clients can secure and manage data across diverse regulatory landscapes.

Future plans include leveraging advanced AI to offer deeper insights and automate security recommendations, which is especially relevant as cloud infrastructures expand. Cyscale also aims to support clients in meeting compliance requirements, helping them stay agile in the face of evolving regulations. By prioritizing transparency and collaboration, Cyscale is positioned to keep adapting its products, ensuring they remain at the forefront of cloud security solutions and continue addressing emerging cybersecurity challenges globally.

Challenges and Overcoming Adversity

Cyscale encountered multiple challenges typical of cybersecurity startups, particularly in building a reputation and trust within a competitive industry. One notable challenge was gaining credibility with businesses that were reluctant to adopt new security solutions from emerging companies. Given the crucial role that security plays in client trust, breaking into this field required persistent demonstrations of Cyscale’s value and reliability.

Another challenge has been navigating the complexities of multi-cloud environments and the varying regulatory requirements across different regions. As Cyscale expanded into international markets, it had to adapt its solutions to meet regional compliance standards, which required significant resources in research and development to ensure global compatibility.

Cyscale overcame these challenges by focusing on transparency and innovation. To build trust with potential clients, they worked closely with early adopters and incorporated their feedback into product updates, which showcased their dedication to client needs. This approach helped establish Cyscale’s credibility in cloud security and enabled them to grow a loyal customer base.

In terms of product adaptability, Cyscale invested in building compliance automation tools that can accommodate diverse regulatory requirements, allowing companies to deploy their solutions in multiple regions seamlessly. Additionally, their partnerships with industry leaders in cloud infrastructure helped bolster their reputation, as these collaborations allowed Cyscale to continuously refine and validate its offerings​.

Target Market and Ideal Clients

Cyscale’s products are suited for a range of industries with high data security and compliance demands. Their ideal clients include tech companies, financial institutions, healthcare organizations, and other sectors that rely heavily on cloud infrastructure and require advanced protection against data breaches. For smaller businesses, Cyscale offers scalable tools that don’t require extensive cybersecurity expertise, allowing these organizations to leverage powerful cloud security without dedicated teams. Mid-sized and enterprise clients benefit from Cyscale’s comprehensive platform that supports multi-cloud environments and offers customizable solutions that align with specific regulatory needs.

Cyscale competes with major cloud security providers like Palo Alto Networks and Netskope. Unlike some competitors, Cyscale places a unique emphasis on contextual risk assessment, which gives users insights into potential attack paths rather than isolated risk factors. This strategic advantage allows clients to prioritize security efforts based on real-world threat scenarios, setting Cyscale apart from providers that may focus on broader, less specialized tools.

Competitive Comparison

Cyscale operates in a competitive landscape alongside cloud security giants such as Palo Alto Networks, Lacework, and Netskope. Each of these companies brings unique strengths to the table: Palo Alto Networks is well-regarded for its Prisma Cloud, which covers a comprehensive range of cloud security capabilities across multiple environments, including identity and workload protection. Lacework, on the other hand, focuses on machine-learning-based behavioral analysis, enabling it to detect anomalies and provide context-driven threat detection, a feature that aligns well with modern DevOps workflows.

What distinguishes Cyscale is its Security Knowledge Graph, which allows companies to visualize and map out cloud assets, relationships, and security risks. This feature provides contextual insights into how specific misconfigurations or permissions could be exploited, offering a more focused approach to risk management. 

Additionally, Cyscale’s user-centric design offers ease of deployment and straightforward compliance tracking, specifically targeting regulated industries such as finance and healthcare. While its competitors emphasize expansive security solutions, Cyscale’s platform prioritizes clarity and usability, providing automated, customizable tools for compliance and risk mapping that suit businesses navigating complex, multi-cloud environments. This tailored approach allows Cyscale to cater to organizations that require in-depth, specialized cloud security and compliance support.

Success Stories

Cyscale has delivered transformative results for companies by addressing complex cloud security and compliance challenges.

For instance, Bays Consulting, a data analytics firm, relied on Cyscale’s cloud security platform to streamline its AWS access reviews and ISO 27001 compliance processes. Previously, Bays Consulting’s access reviews were time-consuming and prone to human error, but Cyscale’s automated tools reduced the review time by 50%. The company also gained real-time monitoring and Slack-integrated alerts, improving overall cloud security posture and eliminating manual work for their teams, even for those without extensive cloud expertise.

Another success story involves Smart Fintech, Romania’s first authorized open banking TPP (third-party provider). Focused on cloud-native applications, Smart Fintech utilized Cyscale’s Identity and Access Management (IAM) visibility and real-time alerting capabilities to strengthen their cloud security. The platform automated key processes, such as managing users’ roles and privileges, which helped reduce the workload on their team and improved their compliance with local regulations. The visibility provided by Cyscale’s IAM tools has allowed Smart Fintech to proactively address misconfigurations and better manage overprivileged accounts, thus enhancing both security and operational efficiency.

Cyscale has also supported a US-based data intelligence company operating across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. This company experienced rapid growth, which made managing cloud security across multiple environments increasingly challenging. Cyscale provided a centralized view for monitoring cloud assets, reducing the need for costly custom tools and improving their compliance efforts across standards like CIS Benchmarks and ISO 27001. Automated alerting and visualization tools have empowered their cybersecurity teams to manage a large-scale, multi-cloud setup efficiently while supporting business growth.

Awards and Recognition

Cyscale has received considerable recognition in the tech industry for its innovation in cloud security. In 2020, it was honored as “The Best Technology Startup” through the InnovX accelerator, a notable program supporting tech-focused startups. In addition, the European Union awarded Cyscale the Seal of Excellence, highlighting its potential and achievements in advancing cloud security solutions.

In 2023, Cyscale was also a finalist in The Europas Awards, a prestigious European startup competition founded by TechCrunch’s Mike Butcher, which recognized Cyscale as a promising cybersecurity company. This nomination underscored the company’s focus on enabling secure cloud environments in sectors like fintech and health tech, where security and compliance are critical. Additionally, Cyscale has been featured in Sifted’s “Ones to Watch” list for RegTech and DeepTech, identifying it as a standout in compliance management and cybersecurity innovation.

Product Suite Overview

Cyscale’s journey into cybersecurity began with a straightforward mission: to provide tools for businesses moving to the cloud that needed greater control and visibility over their data security. Their initial product focused on foundational cloud security, enabling companies to identify vulnerabilities within their cloud environments and take preemptive measures. This product directly addressed the early market need for accessible, easy-to-deploy cloud security solutions, especially as companies without extensive cybersecurity teams transitioned to cloud infrastructure.

Over time, Cyscale expanded its platform by integrating advanced AI-driven analysis, automation, and compliance features. This evolution allowed Cyscale to go beyond merely identifying risks to actively preventing them through continuous monitoring and real-time alerts. They introduced features like knowledge graphs, which provide a contextualized view of potential threats and help security teams understand interconnected risks across different cloud assets. This proactive approach distinguished Cyscale from other providers by enabling clients to gain a comprehensive, holistic view of their cloud security posture, thus staying ahead of emerging threats.

Today, Cyscale offers a robust suite of cloud security solutions designed to support organizations with complex multi-cloud environments. The current product portfolio includes features such as Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM), and compliance tracking. These tools offer clients the ability to monitor permissions, detect configuration issues, and ensure regulatory compliance across multiple cloud platforms. Additionally, Cyscale’s contextualized risk assessment enables organizations to understand specific attack paths that could be exploited, allowing them to proactively secure data in a way that aligns with both industry standards and evolving compliance requirements.

Feature Breakdown

Cyscale’s platform is built with features that prioritize security automation and contextual risk management for multi-cloud environments. Below are some standout features that differentiate Cyscale’s solutions:

• Security Knowledge Graph The Security Knowledge Graph is a powerful tool unique to Cyscale that maps relationships between cloud assets, data stores, and identities. By visualizing how data flows across a network and highlighting potential vulnerabilities, this feature allows security teams to understand how misconfigurations or over privileged accounts could lead to security breaches. This graph provides critical context, making it easier to prioritize and address vulnerabilities effectively.
• Multi-Cloud Visibility and Monitoring Designed for organizations managing complex cloud infrastructures, Cyscale’s platform provides a unified, “single-pane-of-glass” view across multiple cloud environments, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. This feature eliminates the need to toggle between different cloud provider dashboards, making it more efficient to monitor assets and manage compliance from one platform. Real-time alerts and automated compliance checks reduce the manual work associated with monitoring security across diverse environments
• Identity and Access Management (IAM) Visibility Cyscale’s IAM visibility dashboard offers a detailed overview of users’ roles and privileges across cloud accounts, ensuring that no user has excessive access. This feature allows teams to detect permission drifts, automate access reviews, and streamline onboarding/offboarding processes. It’s especially valuable for industries with strict compliance requirements, as it minimizes human error and enhances security by enforcing least-privilege principles​(
• Compliance Automation Cyscale’s platform automates compliance with frameworks like ISO 27001 and SOC 2, providing organizations with ongoing checks to ensure adherence to regulatory standards. It offers a compliance score that’s easy to track, along with exportable reports that help teams prepare for audits. This feature ensures that companies remain compliant without requiring extensive resources, a major advantage for growing businesses.

Cyscale Pro Plan

The Cyscale Pro Plan offers a solid set of features for companies seeking scalable cloud security and compliance tools without the extensive customization options and additional integrations of the Enterprise Plan. While the Pro Plan includes multi-cloud support and automated audits, it lacks the advanced analytics and specialized compliance tools available in the Scale and Enterprise plans. This plan is a mid-tier choice, balancing cost-effectiveness with powerful cloud security essentials.

Key Features:

• Cloud Compliance Monitoring: Tracks compliance against regulatory standards across various cloud environments.
• Automated Security Audits: Runs regular security audits to highlight potential vulnerabilities and strengthen cloud defenses.
• Detailed Data Inventory: Offers an organized and accessible inventory of all stored data for easy monitoring and management.
• Customizable Alerts: Allows personalized alert settings to stay on top of critical changes in cloud security.
• Multi-Cloud Support: Manages and monitors multiple cloud providers from a single platform, enhancing flexibility and scalability.

Cyscale Scale Plan

The Cyscale Scale Plan is designed for businesses needing more advanced compliance and customization features compared to the Pro Plan, making it ideal for regulated sectors. While it builds on the essentials offered in Pro, it provides increased flexibility through customizable policies and more integration options. However, it lacks the Enterprise Plan’s premium analytics and advanced threat detection capabilities, which are suited for larger, high-security organizations.

Key Features:

• Advanced Compliance Management: Provides detailed tools for managing compliance with specific industry standards and regulations.
• Automated Risk Assessment: Regularly evaluates cloud assets to identify and flag potential security risks automatically.
• Enhanced Data Classification: Organizes data by sensitivity and compliance requirements for easier management and prioritization.
• Customizable Policy Engine: Enables creating and enforcing customized security policies across multiple cloud environments.
• Integration with Security Tools: Offers compatibility with several third-party security tools, improving overall functionality and integration options.

Cyscale Enterprise Plan

The Cyscale Enterprise Plan offers the most robust features, specifically geared for large organizations with complex security and compliance needs. It expands on the Scale Plan with real-time threat detection, advanced analytics, and automated incident response, providing a proactive approach to cloud security. However, this premium plan comes with a higher price and a more involved setup, best suited for businesses requiring high-level security and custom compliance.

Key Features:

• Real-Time Threat Detection: Offers continuous monitoring and instant alerts for potential security threats across all cloud assets.
• Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Provides in-depth analytics and reporting, allowing for a comprehensive view of security and compliance metrics.
• Automated Incident Response: Includes automated workflows for responding to incidents, helping teams resolve security issues faster.
• Custom Compliance Frameworks: Enables the creation and management of customized compliance frameworks specific to enterprise requirements.
• Dedicated Customer Support: Offers priority customer support, including a dedicated account manager for personalized assistance.

Insights Wrap-Up

Cyscale’s journey reflects its dedication to addressing the growing security needs of businesses transitioning to multi-cloud environments. Since its founding, the company has expanded its product suite, evolving from a basic security tool into a comprehensive platform that offers contextual risk assessment, compliance automation, and IAM visibility.

With a clear vision for the future, Cyscale continues to innovate, focusing on AI-driven enhancements and global expansion to support companies in high-compliance industries. As organizations increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure, Cyscale’s solutions help clients maintain robust security standards without overwhelming their resources, setting Cyscale apart as a valuable partner in the cybersecurity industry.