Startup Tales | bitCorp, the innovative cybersecurity "made in Italy"

Co-founded by Gianluca Tirozzi and Christian Persurich, experts in human intelligence and counter-terrorism with a long service in the ROS of the Carabinieri, the startup provides technologies developed "in-house" and patented for businesses and governments.

In the ongoing digital transformation, which involves the adoption of innovative ICT technologies such as cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things), and Big Data, companies and institutions must face various types of cyberattacks daily. In this context, the Milan-based startup bitCorp, co-founded by Gianluca Tirozzi and Christian Persurich, offers innovative solutions developed "in-house" and patented to counter them, addressing the main and most current paradigms of computer science in their research activities: AI, Blockchain, quantum computing, and virtualization.

The co-founders, after considerable military experience, decided to dedicate themselves to scientific research (Persurich at the Catholic University of Milan and Tirozzi at the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra), leaving their so-called "permanent job."

Tirozzi, in fact, was long engaged in countering jihadist terrorism, is a deep connoisseur of pan-Islamic cultures and the Arabic language, and obtained a PhD in applied social sciences from Sapienza University of Rome in 2019. Persurich, on the other hand, dealt with domestic terrorism, also working in the homicide section of the Milan Investigative Unit, and obtained a PhD in criminology from the Catholic University. Common trait? Solid experience in complex investigative activities.

Almost by chance, the two came into contact with Gabriele Edmondo Pegoraro, an electronic engineer also graduated in philosophy and an expert in cybersecurity with a background in the aerospace field, with whom they started an entrepreneurial initiative, founding bitCorp in 2018, where he became the first employee (today CIO and head of Research).

The startup immediately began generating revenue by working for the main National Public Prosecutor's Offices, providing technological support to high-profile investigations even outside national borders. In its first year of activity, bitCorp "grew and structured" with non-repayable funding from the Municipality of Milan, the Lombardy Region, and Invitalia, "dealing with the complexity of the state's payment system," explains Tirozzi.

In seeking a banking partner attentive to innovation, bitCorp turned to Intesa Sanpaolo, receiving immediate concrete support. The startup - which in the meantime had reached an agreement with the Polytechnic University of Milan to host interns, hiring the most talented ones - thus found itself at a crossroads: to develop an innovative product that meets the needs of cyberintelligence (in the field of attack) or cybersecurity (focusing on defense).

The chosen option is the latter, and in the third year of activity, the goal became to generate 20% of revenue from the state (cyberintelligence) and 80% from corporations "developing a scalable product to present in various challenges to meet a growing need of the entire society," emphasizes Tirozzi.

bitCorp Technologies: from ZADIG to TEP

Thus began the development of the first entirely Italian Intrusion Detection Prevention System (IDPS), renamed ZADIG in homage to what is considered the first modern literary investigator - born from the pen of Voltaire - as he applied the deductive method in an investigation just as bitCorp's AI does in the search for cyber anomalies and threats.

The technology - a modular platform based on AI models developed "in-house" also available in Software as a Service mode - "is capable of recognizing threats both on the network and on the devices and clients connected to the network we protect. This happens both on a signature basis, drawing on known threats that are inserted by feeding multiple dedicated databases, and on a behavioral basis for unknown threats," clarifies Tirozzi.

ZADIG XDR is the most performant and complete version of bitCorp's Intrusion Detection Prevention System (IDPS): an Intelligent Threat Detector (ITD) powered by proprietary Artificial Intelligence models (EDR) aimed at large enterprises that require the highest levels of security, leveraging an intelligent monitoring system that can be integrated with any other solution already implemented.

The analysis, calculation, and control capabilities on networks and endpoints enable a Forensic function, useful in reconstructing harmful events by identifying internal and external responsibilities to the monitored infrastructure.

Additionally, BitCorp offers a secure alternative to Google Analytics with ZADIG Analytics, capable of safeguarding data, while the most revolutionary product is ZADIG SMART, which allows extending IDS/IPS functionalities and raising the level of cybersecurity even for businesses without internal IT resources with an easy-to-install plug-and-play device. An architectural innovation aimed at companies of all sizes, with different performance levels depending on specific needs.

"In the always very intense research activity we conduct, we have developed and patented several security solutions related to networks and telecommunications," adds Tirozzi. "The one we care about the most is the Transport Encrypted Protocol: a protocol for secure communications that applies the blockchain paradigm to telecommunications."

The patented technology won the 2022 Bold Award in the cybersecurity category, in addition to "receiving attention from the Defense General Staff always looking for innovations and security regarding military command and control systems, testifying that the direction taken is the right one," points out Tirozzi.

The first Proof of Concept (POC) of the TEP conducted successfully will be presented at the 2023 World Conference On Computer And Information Technology in Berlin. "For cybersecurity, technology is not enough, but a holistic approach is needed to accompany it," adds Tirozzi. "Training, also present among bitCorp's products with a video course, is another aspect of our business."

bitCorp, Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center: Up2Stars, Elite Lounge and more

The Milan-based startup, after participating in the Digital-Industry 4.0 category at Up2Stars - a valorization program born from the collaboration between Intesa Sanpaolo and Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center with the support of the innovation platform Gellify - entered the ELITE Lounge of Intesa Sanpaolo, created together with ELITE.

That is, the Euronext ecosystem that helps startups and SMEs grow and access private and public capital markets, with the ultimate goal of identifying the most promising Italian entrepreneurial realities to prepare them to face the challenges inherent in growth through a set of business support services.

A path that allowed bitCorp to present itself to the Venture Capital circuit (with several offers on the table), in addition to participating, thanks to Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center, in the 2023 edition of SMAU San Francisco, deciding to submit the application for 500 Global: the largest North American deep tech fund with an endowment of 280 billion dollars.

Another goal of bitCorp is to conduct a POC of the TEP with the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, as "it would allow us to repay the support received, as well as communicate and market this experience to open up to even larger entities than the current main clients," such as Samag Holding (contract signed also thanks to the resonance had after Up2Stars). In this sense, other negotiations are nearing completion to close new contracts in addition to those already in place and the "behind the scenes" work for the state.

Projects and ambitions: the future of bitCorp

The startup - which has not closed investment rounds by choice - thanks to ELITE Lounge is also evaluating a stock market listing together with Euronext, starting with a preparatory operation with Mamacrowd (the main Italian platform for equity crowdfunding investments) to identify the best solution.

"We have great gratitude for Intesa Sanpaolo, which, in addition to believing in us with Up2Stars, allowed us to optimize the presentation of our product, supporting us 360° from details to aspects related to governance and marketing, allowing us with tips and advice to navigate serenely in an otherwise stormy sea," highlights Tirozzi.

Adding that, in addition to business growth, one of the transformation moments was creating a Board of Directors in which he serves as president, with Christian Persurich as CEO. Also because, after closing 2022 with an Ebit of 730,000 euros on 1.2 million in revenue, relying on the important support of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center (commercial and technological) which "offered fundamental business consultations - recalls Tirozzi - in a dense and continuous exchange going beyond economic aspects," the tricolor startup has important ambitions.

The intention, in fact, is to make bitCorp (which will become an innovative SME in 2024) a Holding that will only deal with research, to which three innovative startups will report: ZADIG S.r.L in the field of cybersecurity, Edera S.r.L active in cyberintelligence, and TEP S.r.L, responsible for telecommunications through the TEP protocol patent. An already ambitious project, which is even more so because the ultimate goal is to make bitCorp a real startup incubator.

Photo credit: bitCorp