Startup story: Askara Solutions X Tehnopol Cyber Accelerator

Each year, dozens of high-potential startups develop their product or service in Tehnopol Startup Incubator’s main programme and special accelerators. One of the teams currently building in the Cyber Accelerator is Askara Solutions.

Askara provides agentic cybersecurity compliance for European SMEs. Their AI agents reason through a company’s information security management system – covering risk, incidents, contracts, and business continuity – and do the real compliance work, so evidence becomes an outcome rather than the goal. Behind the agents sits a shared compliance “brain” that maps every risk, control, and decision, and improves with every engagement.

Askara is founded by Ben Visser (CEO & Founder) and Simon Scullion (COO & Co-Founder). Ben has spent the last eight years deep in ISO management systems, implementing ISO 9001, 14001, 27001, and 55001 in organisations that wanted systems people would actually use. Simon brings over twenty-five years in application development, consulting, and digital transformation, with a recurring focus on how people and technology truly work together. Askara’s work was introduced by both of them.

How did you come up with the idea to create a startup?

“The compliance industry sells evidence, not security. Ben had seen it from the inside for years – implementing ISO management systems across multiple standards and watching organisations get certified without ever becoming more capable. With NIS2 bringing 160,000+ European SMEs into scope, that broken model is about to be imposed on the companies least equipped to absorb it. We founded Askara to build the alternative: AI agents doing the real work, with evidence as the byproduct.”

What have been the biggest challenges/failures and the biggest wins so far?

“Our biggest internal challenge has been practical: every legal and governance template we touched was built for hierarchical companies. Formalising Askara around self-management – source, sociocracy, and Slicing Pie equity – meant rewriting our shareholder agreement from scratch. Commercially, we’re forging a new category in a market dominated by US-first GRC platforms that European SMEs can’t afford and don’t fit into.

The wins: our Risk Investigation Agent is live with our launching customer Qwello. Three more agents are ready to deploy. And CR14 is in conversation for a demo – strong validation from Estonia’s defence and cybersecurity cluster.”

What sets Askara apart from competitors?

“Most compliance platforms optimise for speed to certificate. Askara is built for what customers actually understand when they’re done. We automate compliance work rather than compliance evidence. Our agents return with questions rather than conclusions – keeping human judgement where it belongs. And behind them sits a shared compliance brain that learns from every engagement: every agent grows sharper over time.”

Why did you apply to the Cyber Accelerator?

“We applied for the people – the interaction with other participants and mentors, and access to the wider community Tehnopol opens up. That’s played out exactly as we’d hoped. We’ve connected with National Coordination Centres across Europe, joined matchmaking events like Connect4Cyber, attended RIA’s cyber meetups here in Estonia, and travelled with the Estonian trade mission to the Cyber Security Business Convention in Toulouse.

It’s also shaped how we think about funding. Rather than following the traditional venture capital script, we’re in conversation with aligned investors and leaning into the European grant and subsidy ecosystem.”

Where do you see your startup in 1 year? And in 5 years?

“In one year: our beta programme is complete, the product is launched EU-wide, and our growing suite of compliance agents – risk, incidents, contracts, business continuity, policy generation – is in market alongside a management dashboard. We’ll also be ISO 27001- and ISO 9001-certified ourselves. Practising what we preach.

In five years: Askara is the first platform European SMEs reach for when cybersecurity compliance obligations land on them – when NIS2, DORA, or whatever comes next brings them into scope. Part of the compliance infrastructure of the EU.”

Who is the next (Estonian) unicorn?

“Honestly, we’ve got our hands full with Askara to keep tabs on the whole field. We’d love to see it come from one of our fellow Tehnopol Cyber Accelerator participants, or a friend made at the cyber meetups. If Askara doesn’t get there first…”

Which books/podcasts/publications and influencers do you recommend?

“On the concepts of source and money work: Peter Koenig and Tom Nixon’s Work with Source. Aligning work around natural cycles: Ryan Singer’s Shape Up (Basecamp). For dynamic equity distribution:Mike Moyer’s Slicing Pie. These frameworks show up structurally in how Askara operates day-to-day.

On business philosophy: Yvon Chouinard’s Let My People Go Surfing and Ricardo Semler’s Maverick. Two very different companies, same conviction that working differently is a real competitive advantage.

Naval Ravikant is a sharp read on software and content as compounding assets. In our field specifically: the FAIR Institute and Jack Jones on quantifying cyber risk in financial terms. Foundational to how Askara models risk.”

Applications for the Cyber Accelerator are now open! The Cyber Accelerator is a programme for teams working in cybersecurity, helping you turn your idea into a functional product – with top-level mentoring and up to €60,000 in funding. Read more and apply here.