Collaboration type: One-off project
Timeframe: June – July 2026
Vertical: Cybersecurity / AI
Startup HQ: Milan, Italy 🇮🇹
Brief
Beelzebub came to us with one of the most interesting stories we’ve heard in cybersecurity, and a cool name to match it.
Founded by Mario Candela, who started coding at nine in Calabria and spent a decade in cybersecurity consulting, Beelzebub began life in 2021 as an open-source research project. The premise for them: instead of only defending the perimeter, assume the attacker is already inside your network, and plant LLM-powered traps that look exactly like real servers, databases and APIs. The moment an attacker touches one, they reveal themselves. The project attracted contributions from the likes of Anthropic and grew a community of more than 60 independent researchers before Mario incorporated the company in 2025.
Our job was to announce their €3M seed round, led by Italian deep tech VC United Ventures, and position Beelzebub in front of two audiences at once. New enterprise clients across Europe, particularly NIS2-regulated organisations, and the US investors they’ll be talking to for their next round.
Results
The campaign generated 37 placements across Europe, the US and beyond. Coverage landed in top-tier US business media roundups, dedicated cybersecurity trade press, AI publications, and startup and VC media across the UK, DACH, Benelux, CEE, Turkey and India. The story also travelled well beyond announcement day, picked up in weekly roundups and newsletters into early August. LinkedIn was buzzing, one could say.
Selected media highlights:
- SecurityWeek
- Axios
- Fortune
- The Information
- Sifted (newsletter)
- Tech.eu
- EU Startups
- Tech Funding News
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