For 2 years, the TEAM incubator supported the Chimere startup, recently integrated into the Ekinops group. A look back at this success story.
Gabriel Ladet and Guillaume-Alexandre Chaizy founded Chimere to assist companies exposed to cyberattacks since COVID-19 and the rise of remote work. Their objective is to build an alternative to traditional VPNs, adapted to modern uses: cloud, remote, partners.
The former is a graduate of Aix-Marseille University, the latter of Mines Saint-Étienne in computer science and microelectronics. On the occasion of their integration into the Ekinops group, a leading network connectivity provider, Guillaume-Alexandre answers our questions about Chimere and the support from our TEAM incubator.
🖥️ Could you tell us about Chimere?
Chimere was originally a project born within the Thales group. Among colleagues, we had identified a number of issues for the clients we were working with, and we thought we could create a solution to mitigate these problems. This issue concerned remote access, for which organizations most often use VPNs, especially since COVID-19 and the advent of remote work. More broadly, services and applications were exposed on the Internet and thus subject to hacker attack attempts.
After 3 years at Thales, working initially in parallel with our assignments, then full-time, we obtained a first product and mutually decided to spin off the project to pursue entrepreneurship. We continued product development, acquired our first clients, and have now reached the point of Chimere’s integration into Ekinops!
🖥️ How did TEAM support your development?
TEAM supported me in several ways, and the first, immediately profitable, was the network and connections with the ecosystem. We saved very valuable time thanks to Marie! As the support was implemented, we were also able to challenge our technical choices, obtain invaluable help from research professors who prompted us to ask the right questions and allowed us to gain the necessary perspective to reorient the project when needed. Again, we saved very valuable time in this startup world where every week counts!
🖥️ What will the agreement with Ekinops change for Chimere?
Many things! We had the opportunity to meet Ekinops last year, and we immediately felt that we had great things to achieve together. Chimere was at a stage in its development that required resources; we had strong ambitions, and Ekinops was looking to complete its SASE offering portfolio.
For a young company like ours, this integration allows us to significantly accelerate development, both commercially and technically, but also to compete with non-sovereign cybersecurity providers. Indeed, the current context calls for French and European players to unite and consolidate their offerings to propose an alternative to extra-European giants.
🖥️ Chimere is a startup with an exemplary journey; what advice can you give young entrepreneurs from Mines Saint-Étienne to succeed?
Well, “exemplary” is a strong word! But indeed, in a way, we have completed the entrepreneur’s journey from creation to exit. What I can advise is, above all, to get started! There is a favorable ecosystem for entrepreneurship, there are incubators (and thank you, TEAM!) and alumni who have also been through it. Beyond getting started, persevere! Entrepreneurship is tough; it’s not a calm river; there are highs and many lows too. But you learn a lot, and it’s when you persevere that you succeed. And finally, meet those who have already been through it, learn from others’ mistakes to avoid repeating them.
Thank you to Guillaume-Alexandre Chaizy for answering our questions, and congratulations to Chimere! We also thank the TEAM incubator and research professors Phillipe Jaillon (Institut Fayol) and Nadia El-Mrabet (CMP) for supporting this company. We wish Chimere great success!
