Security Startups Pitch for Investor Backing at ISC

Seven early-stage companies competed in the inaugural SIA StartUps pitch contest, with winners named from products still building commercial traction.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Startups

Security Startups Pitch for Investor Backing at ISC

The Security Industry Association held the inaugural SIA StartUps in Security Pitch Competition at ISC East 2026, with seven companies pitching before a panel of security industry experts and investors. Sharlic, Angel Protection Systems and Rapidflare were named the top three winners. The competition is a showcase of early-stage ventures, not a product launch.

Why it matters

The competition gives early-stage security technology companies a structured path to pitch judges and investors, and the winning ventures are at varying stages of commercial readiness. It reflects a broader push to bring startup innovation into a security industry that has long relied on established manufacturers and integrators.

Entrants were scored on problem clarity, solution or product, market opportunity, business model, pitch quality and overall readiness. Sharlic's platform manages recurring licenses, subscriptions and services sold through the security channel, while Angel Protection Systems monitored 1,850 camera streams.

The players

Security Industry Association (SIA)

A trade association based in Silver Spring, Md., that organizes the SIA StartUps in Security community and the Wolf Pack investor panel.

Sharlic AB

A Swedish B2B SaaS company founded in 2023 whose cloud-based platform manages recurring licenses, subscriptions and services in the security channel, backed by Axis Communications founder Martin Gren.

Angel Protection Systems

A security company founded in 2022 after the Uvalde shooting, operating a 24/7 monitoring center in Midland, Texas, with 19 paying customers including 11 school districts.

Rapidflare

A security startup that placed among the top three winners of the inaugural SIA StartUps in Security Pitch Competition.

The details

Each entrant pitched in a first-round live competition on The Bridge stage on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and three finalists advanced to a championship event the next morning. Finalists were judged in front of a live ISC East audience by a panel that included Brian Karas of ADRM, Annie Lan of EGIS Capital Partners, Mark Eklund of 24Aries and Jay Slaughterbeck of Minuteman Security and Life Safety. The panel is part of the SIA StartUps Wolf Pack, a group of security industry experts and investors who evaluate early-stage ventures.

Wednesday, Nov. 4: First-round live pitch competition held on The Bridge stage.
Thursday, Nov. 5: Championship event with three finalists held the following morning.
2022: Angel Protection Systems was founded after the Uvalde shooting.
2023: Sharlic AB was founded in Sweden.
2026: Sharlic launched commercially in the United States.

The Tech Race

The pitch competition puts early-stage security ventures in front of the same industry investors who fund established manufacturers and integrators. Its winners, including a cloud platform for security-channel subscriptions and a monitored camera service for schools, illustrate two distinct approaches to the market.

School districts and other security buyers may encounter Angel Protection Systems' monitoring service, and security-channel integrators may evaluate Sharlic's subscription platform. The source does not state pricing, availability dates or how the winners plan to expand beyond their current customers.

The takeaway

Watch whether the winning ventures announce additional customers or funding in the months after the competition, which would show whether the pitch format translates into commercial traction. The Security Industry Association's next StartUps event will indicate whether the competition becomes a recurring fixture at ISC East.