🚀 Introducing Cloudsek Launchpad: a incubator for early-stage cybersecurity founders, apply today!
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CloudSEK Launchpad will select 10 early-stage startups for a 12-week programme offering threat intelligence, enterprise customer access, mentorship and investor connections; applications open until November 20, 2026.
Bengaluru : CloudSEK, the Bengaluru-based AI-powered cybersecurity and threat intelligence company has launched CloudSEK Launchpad, a 12-week startup incubation programme aimed at helping early-stage cybersecurity companies develop, test and commercialise security solutions.Â
The first cohort will support 10 startups, with each selected company eligible for up to US$5,000 in AI model credits alongside mentorship, threat intelligence resources, enterprise customer access and investor connections.
The initiative comes as artificial intelligence makes it increasingly easier for smaller teams to build sophisticated cybersecurity products. However, access to real-world threat intelligence, enterprise customers, industry expertise and secure AI infrastructure continues to present challenges for emerging security companies.
Through Launchpad, CloudSEK aims to address these barriers by opening its research capabilities, industry network and technology ecosystem to founders developing next-generation cybersecurity solutions.
The company has also introduced KeyVigil, a secure AI gateway that enables applications and autonomous AI agents to access leading frontier AI models while providing controls for API credentials, sensitive information, model interactions and operational spending. Selected Launchpad startups will receive KeyVigil credits to support product development.
Unlike incubation initiatives that primarily focus on mentorship, CloudSEK Launchpad is structured around practical product development, security research and commercial adoption.
Selected startups will gain access to CloudSEK's cybersecurity expertise and an enterprise ecosystem spanning India, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and the United States.
The programme offers four major benefits:
A central objective of Launchpad is to help early-stage companies move beyond building products to securing their first paying customers.
CloudSEK also expects the initiative to create closer engagement with emerging cybersecurity innovators, enabling collaboration around new technologies, AI-driven security applications and evolving threat intelligence requirements.
Alongside Launchpad, CloudSEK has launched KeyVigil, a secure gateway designed to help organisations manage how their applications and AI agents interact with frontier AI models.
As enterprises increasingly integrate AI models into cybersecurity workflows, business applications and automated systems, managing API credentials, sensitive customer information, model interactions and usage costs has become an important operational and security concern.
KeyVigil addresses these challenges through a unified gateway offering:
Developed by the team behind CloudSEK's AIVigil platform, KeyVigil extends the company's AI security capabilities. While AIVigil focuses on identifying exposed AI assets and attack surfaces, KeyVigil provides controls over traffic and interactions between applications, agents and AI models.
KeyVigil is available to enterprise customers, while Launchpad participants will receive access through the credits included in the incubation programme.
CloudSEK Launchpad draws on the company's experience building cybersecurity products including XVigil, BeVigil, SVigil, AIVigil and Nexus AI, as well as its engagement with enterprise customers and partners across international markets.
The initiative is intended to help emerging security companies overcome some of the challenges CloudSEK encountered during its own growth, including customer acquisition, product positioning and access to relevant industry expertise.
Commenting on the initiative, Rahul Sasi, Founder and CEO of CloudSEK, said, “When we started CloudSEK, I wished someone had shown us the shortcuts, which customers to call first, which mistakes cost a year and who to trust. AI has made it significantly easier to build sophisticated technology, but building a successful cybersecurity company still requires access to real threat intelligence, trusted customers and the right industry network. With Launchpad, we want to share what we have learned and help promising founders get to their first ten paying customers."
He added, "The next big security companies will be AI-first from day one. We want to help them get there faster."
CloudSEK is inviting applications from pre-seed and seed-stage cybersecurity startups. Founders at the idea stage are also eligible, provided they have a strong team and a clearly defined security problem.
The programme is particularly interested in companies developing solutions in:
The selection and incubation process will involve four stages: application submission, interactions between shortlisted founders and CloudSEK's leadership, a 12-week incubation programme, and a concluding demo day with investors and potential customers.
Applications for the first cohort are open until November 20, 2026.
Interested startups can apply directly at https://www.cloudsek.com/launchpad.
About CloudSEK
CloudSEK is an AI-native predictive cyber intelligence platform that identifies attack paths and initial access vectors before they are exploited. The platform combines digital risk protection, cyber threat intelligence, external attack surface monitoring, AI attack surface monitoring and third-party risk intelligence to help organisations detect how attackers can gain access and disrupt attack paths before execution.
To learn more, visit https://cloudsek.com/ or write to [email protected].
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