The support that we received was exactly what we needed, and made our investment journey a phenomenal experience.
Read more
Could you please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your company and the problem it’s trying to solve?
I am the CEO of EYRApproach, a Geneva-based joint venture between cybersecurity expert Approach Belgium and Switzerland’s EYRA Group, which specializes in IT infrastructure and cloud solutions. The new entity combines the expertise of both companies, thus complementing EYRA Group’s offering in Switzerland with Approach’s 20 years of know-how in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is a key concern today for businesses around the globe, including our clients. Not a day goes by without news of ransomware attacks and cyber breaches. It was therefore a priority for us to rapidly increase the capacity for cyber resilience of all our customers – Belgian, Swiss and others – in order to allow them to be prepared to face potential threats, but also to get back up after a hard blow. By providing cutting-edge, all-encompassing IT security solutions, EYRApproach does exactly that.
Could you explain why you decided to establish EYRApproach in Switzerland, and in Geneva in particular?
2021 marked the 20th anniversary of Approach, which was looking at accelerating its international development after becoming the number one cybersecurity provider in its home market. Switzerland was chosen because it shares a number of traits with Belgium: the countries are similar in size, linguistic diversity, and economic fabric, with SMEs making up the bulk of businesses – and of our client base. Since Switzerland is a demanding market, it made sense to form a joint venture with a well-established local player who knows its specificities from within. Geneva is an attractive business hub, and logistically convenient for our Belgian partners.
How has GGBa supported you?
GGBa and DG DERI helped us to connect with the local cybersecurity ecosystem, which was unknown to us, in a quick and efficient manner. There are many exciting initiatives around cybersecurity in Western Switzerland, such as the Trust Valley and the CyberPeace Institute, that we are now proud members of, and the Square One campus currently under construction, where we are seeking to expand in due time. We could feel a real involvement of the investment promotion team in our project and its successful deployment in the region. They facilitated our participation in the Swiss Cyber Security Days, Switzerland’s prime event in the field. We also worked together to address our recruitment needs, and they introduced us to local universities and schools which are a valuable talent pool for us. Last but not least, GGBa supported us in our communication and PR efforts by creating tailored video and text content at a time when it was important for us to generate attention to the branding and positioning of our new entity EYRApproach.
We could feel a real involvement of the investment promotion team in our project and its successful deployment in the region.
What’s your vision for EYRApproach in Switzerland? Where do you see the business in five years’ time?
The democratization of hybrid work has led to an increased need for robust and flexible cybersecurity solutions, which is obviously a positive for us. We are going to focus on automated threat monitoring and neutralization by developing our own Security Operations Center (SOC). This will translate into 10 additional hires in the medium term. In the long term, EYRApproach is expected to create around 50 new jobs.
Yves Froppier
CEO
EYRApproach
Read more testimonials
Matthes Derdack
Co-Founder and CEO
Derdack
Within Europe, Switzerland was a natural choice for XPRIZE because of our impact-driven work.
Read more
Amir Banifatemi
Executive Director and General Manager
XPRIZE Europe