CyberPal is a cybersecurity marketplace platform designed to simplify the complex process of finding and purchasing security solutions. The deck, dated February 2020, outlines a vision for a 'one-stop' shop where users can compare products, locate local resellers, and contact vendors directly. At the time of this deck, the company was in a pre-product stage, claiming 50,000 pre-product subscribers and seeking £500,000 to fund development and marketing. The business model relies on a mix of freemium services, subscriptions, and advertising. While the deck identifies clear pain points in the 'd…
Key takeaways
- The platform aims to reduce the time to qualify cybersecurity requirements to under one minute (Slide 03).
- CyberPal positions itself as a 'cost-effective' alternative to legacy research firms like Gartner and Forrester (Slide 09).
- The revenue model is diversified across freemium, subscription-based, and advertising streams (Slide 07).
- The company claimed 50,000 pre-product subscribers within one month of an unspecified period (Slide 11).
- The 2020 roadmap targeted a soft launch in Q4 after pilot testing in Q2 (Slide 13).
- The funding ask is £500,000, with the largest portion (£200,000) allocated to Sales & Marketing (Slide 15).
- The deck lacks a dedicated team slide, omitting the specific backgrounds of the founders or current staff (Omitted in provided slides).
- Market size is presented as a global map of 'members' totaling 660 million, though these appear to be general regional populations rather than a specific TAM (Slide 07).
Executive Summary: The Cybersecurity Marketplace Vision
The CyberPal pitch deck, dated February 2020, presents a solution for a fragmented and often opaque cybersecurity procurement market. The core premise is that finding the right security software is currently too difficult, expensive, and time-consuming for most businesses. By creating a mobile-first marketplace, CyberPal intends to democratize access to security vendor data, pricing, and local reseller networks. The deck is a classic seed-stage presentation, focusing heavily on the 'problem/solution' fit and the potential for global scale, while seeking the capital necessary to move from a pre-product concept to a live platform.
Slide 01: Title and Vision
The cover slide introduces the brand and the core value proposition: "Finding your cyber security solutions just got easier." The imagery features a modern, isometric illustration of a user interacting with a mobile interface, signaling that this is a digital-first, likely mobile-app-centric platform. The URL cyberpalapp.com is prominently displayed, establishing the brand identity early.
Slide 03: The Three-Step Solution
Slide 03 breaks down the user journey into three distinct phases: Discover, Locate, and Contact. Discover involves finding a suitable product within a minute using the platform's search and filtering tools. Locate uses geographic data to find vendors and resellers nearby. Contact allows users to send requirements to all matching vendors with a single click. The slide includes mockups of the app interface, showing categories like 'EndPoint Protection,' 'Next Gen Firewall,' and 'SIEM,' alongside specific vendor names like Darktrace, Cisco, and IBM.
Slide 05: How It Works and Feature Set
This slide details the 'Revolution in Cyber Security Marketplace.' It lists six key features: an intelligent comparison platform (Feature 1), a reseller locator (Feature 2), a supplier matching engine (Feature 3), a vendor portal for listing and selling solutions (Feature 4), a free tool for providing solutions (Feature 5), and a community for peer insights (Feature 6). The visual centerpiece is a dashboard showing 'Vendor Statistics' with figures like '$32,632' in revenue and '14,175' visits, suggesting that the platform provides value to both the buyer and the seller.
Slide 07: Market Reach and Revenue Model
Under the heading "How big can this get?", CyberPal outlines its monetization strategy: "Freemium, Subscription based and Advertising." The slide is dominated by a world map with member counts, totaling "660 million members in 200 countries and regions worldwide." It is important to note that these figures appear to represent the total addressable population of potential users rather than active platform members, as the company identifies as 'pre-product' later in the deck. Specific regional callouts include 165M+ in the US, 206M+ in Europe, and 62M+ in India.
Slide 09: Competitive Landscape
Slide 09 uses a horizontal axis to plot competitors from "Old Players" (Gartner, Forrester) to "Start-ups" (CyberPal). The axis moves from "Difficult and Expensive" to "Easy and Cost Effective." A comparison table lists five use cases. CyberPal claims to be the only one that satisfies all five, including "Qualify my requirements within 1 minute" and "Locate my nearest & best Resellers with map." Competitors like G2 Crowd and Capterra are noted for having reviews and community insights but are marked as lacking the specific procurement and location features CyberPal offers.
Slide 11: Potential Traction and Partnerships
This slide attempts to validate the concept through early interest and industry recognition. It claims "50000 pre-product subscribers within one month" and mentions being finalists at industry events like "UK Cyber Innovation Zone 2019" and "HutZero." The slide also displays logos for IDG, Salesforce, PwC, and Hiscox under the claim of "10 deals with firms including Big 4 and insurance." Without further detail, it is unclear if these are pilot programs, vendor partnerships, or simple letters of intent.
Slide 13: The 2020 Roadmap
The "Timescale: Year 1 - 2020" slide provides a quarterly breakdown of goals. Q1 focuses on back-end and front-end development. Q2 is slated for pilot testing and the launch of the mobile and web apps. Q3 focuses on promotion through social media and PR (mentioning Business Insider and HubSpot). Q4 targets a soft launch with global user contact and ongoing data updates. This timeline indicates that at the time of the pitch, the product was still in the development phase.
Slide 15: Use of Funds and The Ask
The final slide in the sequence states the funding requirement: "We need 500k to make it happen." The £500,000 is allocated as follows: £160,000 for a team of app and web developers (including data scientists and UX designers); £130,000 for business model and operations (salaries and infrastructure); £200,000 for sales and marketing (staff and advertising); and £10,000 for capitalised costs. This suggests a heavy emphasis on customer acquisition and technical build-out over the first 12 months.
What Works in This Deck
The deck excels at identifying a clear gap in the market. By contrasting itself against the 'difficult and expensive' legacy research firms, CyberPal makes a compelling case for a more agile, marketplace-driven approach to software procurement. The three-step solution (Discover, Locate, Contact) is easy to understand and addresses the friction points of traditional B2B sales. Furthermore, the inclusion of app mockups helps visualize the product, making the 'pre-product' status feel more tangible to potential investors.
What Is Missing or Lacking
The most significant omission in the provided slides is a Team Slide . For a seed-stage company asking for £500,000, the background of the founders is critical to establishing credibility, especially in a technical field like cybersecurity. Additionally, the Market Size slide (Slide 07) is misleading; it lists hundreds of millions of 'members' across various countries, but these figures seem to represent general population stats or total internet users rather than a calculated Total Addressable Market (TAM) for cybersecurity procurement software. The deck also lacks Unit Economics ; while it mentions a subscription model, there is no indication of expected Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or Lifetime Value (LTV), which are vital for justifying a £200,000 marketing spend.
Founder Takeaways: What to Copy
Founders should look at Slide 09 as a strong example of a competitive matrix. Instead of just listing names, it lists specific 'Use Cases' and checks off which competitors meet those needs. This forces the founder to define exactly what their 'secret sauce' is. The roadmap on Slide 13 is also a good template for showing a clear path from funding to launch, providing investors with a sense of the company's operational cadence. Finally, the 'Use of Funds' slide (Slide 15) is appropriately granular, showing exactly how the capital will be deployed across different departments rather than just asking for a lump sum.
Frequently asked questions
- What is CyberPal's primary value proposition?
- CyberPal aims to be a 'one-stop' marketplace for cybersecurity solutions. According to Slide 03, the platform allows users to discover products, locate nearby resellers on a map, and contact multiple vendors with one click. It positions itself as a faster, cheaper alternative to traditional consultancy and research firms, claiming to help users qualify their security requirements in just one minute.
- How does CyberPal plan to generate revenue?
- As stated on Slide 07, the company utilizes a three-pronged business model: Freemium, Subscription-based, and Advertising. While the slide does not detail the specific pricing tiers, Slide 05 suggests that vendors can list and sell their solutions through the platform, implying a potential commission or listing fee structure alongside the user-facing subscriptions.
- What was the company's traction at the time of the deck?
- Slide 11 lists 'Potential Traction,' which includes 50,000 pre-product subscribers gained within one month. It also mentions participation in industry events like CyberUK 2019 and HutZero, and claims '10 deals with firms including Big 4 and insurance,' featuring logos for IDG, Salesforce, PwC, and Hiscox, though the nature of these 'deals' is not specified.
- How does CyberPal differentiate itself from competitors?
- Slide 09 features a competitive matrix comparing CyberPal to 'Old Players' (Gartner, Forrester) and 'Use Cases' (Capterra, G2 Crowd). CyberPal claims to be the only solution that solves the 'full cycle' of customer pain, specifically highlighting its ability to locate nearest resellers via a map and provide indicative pricing, features it claims competitors lack.
- What is the specific funding ask and its allocation?
- According to Slide 15, CyberPal is seeking £500,000. The funds are split into four categories: £160,000 for building a team of app and web developers, £130,000 for business model and operations (salaries and infrastructure), £200,000 for sales and marketing, and £10,000 for capitalised costs like depreciation.
