BestDefense, Inc

Vortex
Applicant Cyber Software TRL 6 3-5 people

Overview

Slow, costly, and complex red team operations and long mean-time to remediation of critical vulnerabilities in mission critical software and infrastructure

Problem

Most systems are still penetration tested manually and infrequently, leaving vulnerabilities undiscovered until it’s too late. Cyber Protection Teams and system owners need a way to emulate adversarial behavior to match the speed of modern threats.

Solution

AI-driven, autonomous penetration testing platform that identifies, prioritizes, and remediates vulnerabilities in apps, devices and infrastructure; red team coverage without waiting on contract cycles.

Field Validation

Pre-field. Internal pilots completed with commercial partners. Early partner interest from federal contractors. Adopted by TechStars as standard security tool for new SaaS startups.

Technology Maturity

TRL 6. Operational-scale testing on hardened cloud apps using AI-orchestrated open-source tooling. Active in commercial.

Strategic Advantage

Proprietary orchestration, chained exploit logic, and auto-remediation give Vortex an edge. A persistent adversary with fix generation. Built cloud-agnostic and VPC-ready.

Go-To-Market Access

Pursuing direct contracts, Techstars for Defense, and pilots with primes. Exploring AFWERX, DIU, and OTA teaming. Already in Carahsoft and Bridgepoint Technologies.

Dual-Use Potential

Applicable to critical infrastructure, healthcare, finance, and MSSPs, anywhere a breach could cripple operations.

Team

CTO Derek Foster led high-scale security programs across SaaS and fintech. CEO Dan has worked on FSISAC Threat Intelligence Repository, securing the NASDAQ.

Competitive Landscape

Qualys & Rapid7 lack continuous attack logic. Startups offer pen-test-as-a-service—but without automation or remediation. Vortex delivers both.

Primary User

Cyber Protection Teams, DevSecOps units (e.g., Platform One), and ATO system owners.

User-Critical Problem

Operators can’t run red teams on demand and are left guessing. Vortex resolves: autonomously, continuously.