Know Bastion, a French startup that was born in October 2022 to help small businesses face cybersecurity risks without too much complexity. Created by former Palantir employees, the company has already raised $2,8 million.
What sets Bastion apart from other cybersecurity startups is that it wants to be your first and last cybersecurity subscription. It bundles several different products that revolve around cybersecurity risks with a software-as-a-service approach.
Frst, Global Founders Capital, Kima Ventures and Motier Ventures invested in the company, as well as several business angels, such as Denis Duverne, Joshua Motta, Renaud Deraison and Gaëlle Olivier.
At Palantir, the four co-founders (Arnaud Fournier, Arnaud Drizard, Sébastien Duc and Robin Costé) were already working in cybersecurity in one form or another. Some of them were part of a small team in charge of cybersecurity, excluding governments and public administrations. One of them was in charge of anti-fraud deals for large banks and insurance companies.
“Companies we talk to tell us, 'We have an insurance broker, an accountant, why would we have multiple cybersecurity products?'” Arnaud Fournier, co-founder and CEO, told me.
When you want to secure your bike in a big city, you can use three different locks to make sure the wheels are secure and the bike is tied to a post.
Or you can buy a proper U-lock to make sure it's more secure than most bikes. And this is Bastion.
Essentially, the ideal Bastion customer just wants to make sure that their business is safe and that there isn't a major vulnerability that could end up creating a big mess down the road.
Currently, Bastion has four different modules. First, the startup runs phishing simulation tests, as many security issues stem from employees handing out credentials. With this training module, Bastion compete with riot.
Second, Bastion scans your infrastructure and web applications to make sure your attack surface is as small as possible. The company gives you a list of fixes to improve your settings.
Third, Bastion scans and protects endpoints such as employee laptops. “We offer an EDR solution, which is sort of an antivirus tool enhanced with a computer that analyzes what's going on in real time,” Fournier explains. EDR stands for endpoint detection and response. For this product, Bastion partners with a white-label EDR provider.
Finally, Bastion wants to help companies monitor incoming email with its fourth module. Right now, customers can forward suspicious emails to find out for sure if they are legitimate or not. At some point, the startup also wants to help filter incoming email so it doesn't even show up in their employees' inboxes.
“For some of these products, we realized that the ones on the market were too expensive for what they offered. We leverage open source building blocks or rebuild 80% of what is needed,” Fournier explains.
Bastion offers the complete suite for around 10 euros per month per employee. It's not cheap, but some businesses may choose to subscribe to a portion of what Bastion offers.
Interestingly, the company does not plan to sell its product directly to small businesses. Instead, the company partners with outsourced security service providers, banks, insurance companies, and others.
In the coming months, Bastion plans to build a network of partners who are already helping small and medium-sized businesses and may also start selling Bastion to their own customers. And, of course, there will also be new features and improvements to the product.
