Networking event for cyber security founders at #RISK Europe 2025
This article covers #Risk Europe, a conference organiser, and its #RISK Europe 2025 event taking place at ExCeL on 12–13 November 2025. The two-day conference aims to bring together more than 4,000 cross-functional leaders to examine cyber, regulatory and ESG risk, supporting corporate leaders, startups and risk professionals in the UK and Europe.
Europe’s risk, governance and compliance community will converge in London this November as #RISK Europe 2025 brings more than 4,000 cross‑functional leaders to ExCeL on 12–13 November. The two‑day event aims to interrogate a single, pressing question: how do organisations turn mounting cyber, regulatory and ESG risk into strategic advantage?
Why it matters
Risk management is being remade. New waves of cyber threats, rapid advances in AI, tightening compliance regimes and growing ESG scrutiny are forcing boards and security teams to shift from defensive reporting to forward‑looking strategy. For corporate leaders and startups alike, understanding that shift is increasingly business critical.
#RISK Europe 2025 is structured around four dedicated content stages and promises a mix of keynote presentations, AI workshops, product demonstrations and panel discussions. The agenda is aimed at practical outcomes: translating regulatory change, data governance and AI risk into operational decisions and product roadmaps.
Who will be there
Organisers expect more than 4,000 attendees, over 100 exhibitors and 200 experts. The audience is described as cross‑functional, drawing CEOs, chief information security officers, heads of compliance and founders developing security, privacy and governance tools.
The confirmed speaker list spans analysts, journalists, risk leaders and founders. Highlights include Michael Rasmussen, GRC analyst at GRC 20/20; Joe Tidy, BBC News cyber correspondent; Fergus Hay, CEO and co‑founder of The Hacking Games; Gayle Sparkes, head of conduct and compliance risk insights; Jesse Tayler, founder and CTO of TruAnon and the inventor of the App Store; Stefan Gershater, head of risk and governance at Co‑op; and Eric Alter, senior vice‑president and cyber/AI engagement leader at Marsh C&C.
Each speaker brings a different perspective: journalists who track real‑time cyber incidents, analysts who advise governance frameworks, in‑house risk leads grappling with enterprise controls, and founders building tools to surface and mitigate risk.
Inside the portfolio — what exhibitors bring
More than 100 exhibitors will showcase products from AI risk tooling and data governance platforms to cyber incident response and compliance monitoring. For startups, the expo offers a concentrated opportunity to demo to CISOs and compliance buyers who are wrestling with procurement cycles and integration challenges.
Who’s behind the conference
#RISK Europe is part of the #RISK Series, a portfolio of events focused on governance, risk and compliance. Startupmag is participating as an official media partner for the 2025 edition; organisers worked with a number of industry contacts to shape the programme, with Jonathan Sumner noted for his assistance in facilitating the partnership.
How it fits the market
The timing of the conference reflects broader trends in the UK and Europe: regulators are updating compliance expectations in areas from AI transparency to ESG reporting, while boards demand better alignment between risk functions and corporate strategy. For startups building security, privacy and compliance products, that alignment presents both a commercial opportunity and a technical challenge.
What founders should take away
Founders attending should expect to hear practical use cases, procurement pain points and deployment constraints from potential customers. Sessions and demos aim to highlight how risk functions evaluate new vendors and where product teams need to focus to win enterprise adoption.
#RISK Europe 2025 will be one of the larger gatherings in the UK that brings together policy, security and commercial perspectives. For the UK and wider European ecosystem it is a barometer of how regulation, AI and cyber realities are reshaping buying decisions and product strategy — a landscape that will matter to startups and incumbents alike.
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