Auriga Cyber Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Auriga Cyber Ventures is a Paris-based early-stage venture capital fund investing exclusively in cybersecurity and digital trust. The firm's stated mission is to back founders who "don't just adapt to change, they drive it," funding companies that anticipate the next wave of cyber threats and help build a safer, more trusted, and resilient digital world. Auriga was founded in 2021 and launched its first fund in 2022 as a spinout backed by Auriga Partners together with four prominent cybersecurity entrepreneurs, giving the firm deep operating credibility and a trusted network of more than 100 cybersecurity entrepreneurs, operators, vendors, and accelerators to draw on for diligence and portfolio support.
Sector Focus
The firm invests exclusively in cybersecurity and digital trust, with portfolio exposure spanning compliance and security-awareness training, AI security, blockchain and post-quantum cryptography, IoT and embedded security, fraud and deepfake detection, SaaS security management, third-party risk management (TPRM), governance-risk-compliance (GRC) tooling, and identity/SSO. The 2026 vintage (Auriga Cyber Ventures II) explicitly widens the scope to include AI-driven security tooling, reflecting the firm's increasing interest in the intersection of AI and cyber risk (e.g., Cytix's agentic-AI testing orchestration platform).
Stage Focus
Auriga is an early-stage specialist, historically leading seed and Series A rounds. With the launch of Auriga Cyber Ventures II in 2026, the firm has extended its mandate from seed through Series A/B, allowing it to follow portfolio winners into growth rounds alongside new seed bets.
Check Size
Exact check sizes are not disclosed publicly. Portfolio round-size data suggests seed rounds the firm participates in have averaged roughly EUR 2.6M, with at least one Series A round (CryptoNext Security) at roughly EUR 12.1M. Historically Auriga has been a lead or co-lead investor at seed; several 2026 rounds (Enclaive, Finovox, Cytix) show the firm participating alongside other lead investors, suggesting a flexible lead/follow posture as the fund scales into Fund II.
Lead Tendency
Mixed. Earlier-fund investments (Patrowl, Tenacy, Cryptr, Qontrol, Mithril Security) were frequently led or co-led by Auriga. 2026 activity shows Auriga as a syndicate participant behind other leads (Join Capital/Amadeus APEX for Enclaive, TX Ventures for Finovox, Northern Gritstone for Cytix), while emproof's March 2026 round was led by Auriga itself. Best classified as "both."
Recent Activity
Auriga Cyber Ventures II has been actively deploying through 2026:
- February 2026: Participated in enclaive's EUR 4.1M seed round for multi-cloud confidential computing (co-led by Join Capital and Amadeus APEX Technology Fund).
- March 2026: Led emproof's funding round to scale its embedded-security platform, with SecFund joining as a new investor alongside existing backers HTGF and TIN Capital.
- June 2026: Participated in Finovox's EUR 8.2M Series A (led by TX Ventures) to accelerate European expansion of its AI-powered document-fraud detection platform.
- August 2026: Participated in Cytix's $7M Series A (led by Northern Gritstone) to scale its AI-driven software change-risk platform.
Portfolio Highlights
The firm has backed roughly 25 startups and 54+ founders since 2022, concentrated in France, the Netherlands, the UK, and increasingly Germany. Notable names include CryptoNext Security (post-quantum cryptography, NIST-validated library), H Company (AI), Cytix (agentic AI security testing, backed by Northern Gritstone), Finovox (document fraud detection), Patrowl (attack-surface management), Tenacy (cyber GRC), Cryptr (SSO-as-a-service), and Sensity (deepfake detection).
Team
- Geoffroy Rosset - Managing Partner
- William Lecat - Partner
- Sarah Isal - Senior Associate
- Ornella Krief - Senior Analyst
- Thierry Rouquet - Operating Partner; co-founder and former CEO of Sentryo (industrial cybersecurity, acquired by Cisco in 2019) and former exec at Arkoon Network Security (Euronext-listed, acquired by Airbus Defense & Space)
- Edouard de Remur - Venture Partner; co-founder of Oodrive (secure cloud collaboration) and Virtual Browser (web isolation)
- Georges Lotigier - Venture Partner; CEO of Vade (email security, acquired by Hornetsecurity in 2024, then Proofpoint in 2025)
- Jean-Noel de Galzain - Venture Partner; founder and CEO of Wallix (privileged access management, first cybersecurity pure-player to IPO in France) and co-founder of Hexatrust
Decision Process
Partnership-driven: the fund is anchored by a small team of managing/venture partners who are themselves veteran cybersecurity founders and operators (Wallix, Oodrive, Vade, Sentryo), suggesting an operator-heavy, consensus-based diligence process rather than a solo-GP or large-committee model.
Founder Preferences
Auriga favors founders building differentiated, technical cybersecurity and digital-trust products for the European market, with a demonstrated bias toward deep technical teams (post-quantum cryptography academics at CryptoNext, embedded-security researchers at emproof) and operators tackling emerging risk categories like AI security, deepfakes, and IoT/embedded systems.
Geographic Focus
Primarily Europe, with the heaviest concentration in France (where the firm is headquartered, at 250 Bis Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, 75008 Paris), and further activity in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany (enclaive in Berlin, emproof in Bochum).