Editor's note: This week, we will publish one feature per day on each of the five finalists. They will be added here through the week:
Bill Brenner
Bill Brenner
Bill Brenner
Bill Brenner
Bill Brenner
Five emerging cybersecurity companies will take the stage at CYBR.SEC.CON. 2026 next month for the final round of LaunchPad, a startup competition designed to answer a question that goes beyond who can deliver the slickest pitch: Does the company have something the cybersecurity market actually needs — and can it build a business around it?
Above, Astelia, Singulr AI, MokN and VisionHeight have advanced to the final round of the competition, which will take place Sept. 15 during the first day of CYBR.SEC.CON. in Houston.
Full coverage of CYBR.SEC.CON 2026:
Bill Brenner
LaunchPad is aimed at early-stage, privately held cybersecurity companies. Eligibility was limited to CYBR.SEC.CON. Innovation Sponsors with less than $5 million in annual recurring revenue, valuations below $50 million and funding at Series A or earlier. The stated goal is to help promising startups refine and amplify their messages before a cybersecurity audience that CYBR.SEC.CON. expects to exceed 3,000 attendees, with additional exposure through CYBR.SEC.Media.
But the structure of LaunchPad is what CYBR.SEC.CON. organizers believe sets the competition apart.
More Than an Investor Pitch
Startup competitions at security conferences frequently concentrate on one audience: investors looking for the next company to fund or security executives evaluating the technology.
LaunchPad deliberately widens that lens.
The judging process includes CISOs and venture capitalists, but also chief marketing officers and chief revenue officers. That means finalists aren't being evaluated solely on the technical merits of their products or their investment potential. They also have to demonstrate that they understand the problem they're solving, can explain why the market should care and have a credible path toward selling what they've built.
As Andy Ellis explained in promoting the competition, the idea is to get a more complete view of the companies by bringing together the different perspectives that determine whether a cybersecurity startup ultimately succeeds.
The result is effectively a four-part test:
- Does the technology solve a meaningful security problem?
- Will security practitioners want it?
- Can the company communicate why it matters?
- Can someone actually sell it?
That broader perspective also fits the community model CYBR.SEC.CON. is trying to build. Rather than separating practitioners, executives, investors and vendors into their own corners of the industry, LaunchPad puts them into the same conversation.
From Applications to Five Finalists
Getting onto the Houston stage required more than submitting a company name and showing up with a pitch deck.
LaunchPad was built around a three-stage process.
The first, dubbed "Fueling Up," required participating startups to submit a two- to five-minute pitch video, pitch deck and value-proposition white paper. As many as 25 companies could advance from that initial screening.
Stage 2, "Mission Control," significantly raised the bar. Companies moving forward were required to deliver a recorded 15-minute pitch and participate in an interview with CYBR.SEC.Media. Their submissions were then evaluated from the CRO, CMO, CISO and venture-capital perspectives, with no more than five companies advancing.
Those five have now been selected:
- Above
- Astelia
- Singulr AI
- MokN
- VisionHeight
That leaves one stage: "Liftoff."
The finalists will pitch live before the judging panel Sept. 15 at CYBR.SEC.CON., putting months of screening and preparation in front of the conference audience.
What Happens After the Pitches
The value of LaunchPad isn't intended to end when the judges make their decision.
Companies reaching Stage 2 receive exposure through CYBR.SEC.Media, while finalists reaching Stage 3 are referred to CYBR.SEC.Ventures for a potential investment conversation. The referral is explicitly non-binding: finalists aren't obligated to accept an investment, and CYBR.SEC.Ventures isn't committing to make one. Participating companies can also work with CYBR.SEC.Advisory on improving their pitches.
That creates a pipeline extending beyond the competition itself: identify promising young cybersecurity companies, pressure-test their ideas from several sides of the market, help them sharpen how they communicate their value and then potentially connect the strongest companies with investment and a larger industry audience.
CYBR.SEC.Ventures describes its mission as investing in cybersecurity technologies capable of producing both financial returns and positive community impact, with companies that excel through LaunchPad serving as a primary source of potential investments.
Next Stop: Houston
For Above, Astelia, Singulr AI, MokN and VisionHeight, the application and preliminary judging phases are over.
What remains is the live test.
The five companies are scheduled to meet on Sept. 15 at CYBR.SEC.CON., where they'll have to make their case not to one narrowly defined audience, but to the broader cybersecurity ecosystem they would ultimately need to win over if they hope to grow.
And that's ultimately what LaunchPad is trying to measure.
A good cybersecurity idea can get a startup into the conversation. Turning that idea into a company requires technology that works, customers who need it, a story the market understands and a business capable of selling it.
In Houston, five startups will get the chance to prove they have all four.
