SouthwestX
4 days ago
Business / Industry Co-Founder (F/M/D) Role At Startup Guardsphere
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Company information
- Company
- SouthwestX
- Location
- Saarbrücken Germany
- Posted
- 4 days ago
Job description
GUARDSPHERE
Saarbrücken, Germany | On-site | Co-Founder / Equity | Deep Tech / OT & Industrial Cybersecurity
About GuardSphere
GuardSphere protects factories, energy plants and critical infrastructure from cyberattacks without ever stopping production. Its product, NeuroX Shield, passively watches a plant's industrial network, learns normal behavior, and lets operators respond to threats safely and gradually — built for mid-sized German manufacturers and utilities who can't afford downtime and have no in-house security specialist.
The opportunity
Founded around Farah Elshenawy (7 years in penetration testing, OSCP, MSc Entrepreneurial Cybersecurity at Saarland University/CISPA) and machine-learning lead Nazligul Kese, GuardSphere has validated its prototype with 47+ industry professionals across 6 industrial events and secured €800k in StartupSecure funding. What's missing is the commercial engine to turn validated R&D into revenue. We are looking for a Business / Industry co-founder specialized in OT security go-to-market, GuardSphere is separately also open to a CTO / software co-founder with OT/ICS development experience.
Tasks
What you will own
Go-to-market & sales
- Build GuardSphere's route into German manufacturing and utilities, converting strong customer interest (47+ contacts across 6 events) into pilots and paying customers.
- Bridge NeuroX Shield's technical capabilities with the budget and risk-appetite decision cycle of Plant Managers and CISOs.
Commercial strategy
- Understand and navigate industrial procurement processes, budgets and buying decisions in OT/manufacturing.
- Own pricing, packaging and commercial positioning as the prototype becomes a repeatable product.
Company build-up
- Lead incorporation (planned mid-2027) and support fundraising alongside Farah Elshenawy (Project Lead / CEO track).
Requirements
What you bring
Core experience
- Business development or sales experience in OT/ICS cybersecurity, industrial automation, or a closely related B2B industrial technology field.
- Understanding of German manufacturing and utilities procurement, budgets and decision cycles.
Especially valuable
- Existing network among Plant Managers, CISOs or OT security buyers.
- Familiarity with IEC 62443 and industrial compliance standards.
- GuardSphere is separately seeking a CTO/Developer co-founder, hands-on OT/ICS software development experience is valuable for that parallel track.
Benefits
Why join GuardSphere
- A prototype already validated through 47+ customer conversations and 6 industrial events, real market pull, not just a hypothesis.
- €800k in non-dilutive StartupSecure funding already secured.
- Ground-floor equity in a company addressing a growing, regulation-driven market (IEC 62443, rising OT/ICS attack surface).
GuardSphere welcomes co-founder candidates regardless of gender, age, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, sexual identity, or any other characteristic. This is a search for the right partner to build the company with, not a conventional hire.
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Required skills
- sales
- packaging
- industrial automation
- customer acquisition
- business development
- utilities
- germany
- machine learning
- equity
- sales experience
- commercial strategy
- fundraising
- cybersecurity
- pricing
- penetration testing
- oscp
- budget management
- pilots
- start-up
- procurement processes
- sales strategy
- plant managers
- go-to-market
- co-founder
- on-site
- customer conversations
- risk appetite
- industrial procurement
- cto
- downtime
- factory protection
- deep tech
- cisos
- incorporation
- iec 62443
- security specialist
- technical capabilities
- commercial positioning
- industrial cybersecurity
- cyberattacks
- ot cybersecurity
- paying customers
- critical infrastructure protection
- existing network
- business development experience
- saarland university
- company build-up
- msc entrepreneurial cybersecurity
- cispa
- neurox shield
- buying decisions
- german manufacturing
- decision cycles
- industrial compliance standards
- startupsecure funding
- regulation-driven market
- ot/ics attack surface
- energy plant protection
- industrial network
- german manufacturers
- ot security go-to-market
- software co-founder
- ot development
- ics development
- repeatable product
- b2b industrial technology
- german utilities
- hands-on ot/ics software development
- market pull
- non-dilutive funding
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