Cybersecurity PR Case Study | CleanStart

How Virgo Built Cybersecurity Firm CleanStart's U.S. Credibility and Secured 85+ Media Placements

The Problem

CleanStart entered the U.S. cybersecurity market as an emerging company with limited recognition among the reporters, buyers and partners it needed to reach. Larger security vendors already dominated conversations around container security and vulnerability management.

CleanStart also needed to explain a story that was growing quickly. The company began with hardened container images, then expanded into software discovery, remediation and trusted open-source libraries. Product news alone could not establish the company's authority across each of those areas.

The ask: build a credible U.S. presence while connecting CleanStart's expanding product portfolio to the software supply chain issues shaping industry coverage.

What Virgo Did

Built a U.S. media program. Virgo introduced CleanStart and its executives to reporters covering cybersecurity, enterprise technology, DevOps and AI. Outreach tied the company's expertise to active industry discussions, which opened doors beyond product announcements.

Created a steady news cadence. Virgo developed and promoted nine announcements spanning hardened images, an SBOM analyzer, the Sysdig partnership, shell-less and read-only production containers, Clean Libraries, CleanSight and regional expansion. Each milestone added public proof of product development and company growth.

Positioned technical leaders as sources. Virgo built a thought leadership program around CEO Nilesh Jain and CTO Biswajit De. Contributed articles, interviews, Q&As and rapid-response commentary gave both executives room to address broader questions about AI-assisted development, software provenance and dependency selection.

Connected the portfolio under one company story. As CleanStart moved beyond container images, Virgo increasingly framed its work around trust across the software entering enterprise environments. Clean Libraries supported coverage of AI coding assistants and dependency choice, while CleanSight opened conversations about discovering and remediating upstream risk.

Pursued outside validation. Virgo identified award opportunities that could reinforce CleanStart's standing with U.S. audiences, including recognition from the Cyber 150, the Cloud Awards and The Hacker News Awards.

The Results

• The campaign secured more than 85 media placements across cybersecurity, enterprise technology, DevOps and AI publications.
• CleanStart CEO Nilesh Jain and CTO Biswajit De gained regular opportunities to contribute articles, participate in interviews and Q&As and provide expert commentary on industry developments.
• Virgo supported nine major announcements covering new products, partnerships and regional expansion. Each announcement added to the public record of CleanStart's growth and technical progress.
• CleanStart also earned outside recognition through a top 10 placement in the 2026 Cyber 150, a Cloud Awards shortlist, a Hacker News Awards honor and a CyberSecurity Breakthrough Award.
• Coverage expanded beyond container security and CVE management to include AI-assisted development, software provenance, dependency selection and Software Supply Chain Posture Management.

Coverage Highlights

• Dark Reading, SBOMs in 2026: Some Love, Some Hate, Much Ambivalence
• SecurityWeek, Cyber Insights 2026: Threat Hunting in an Age of Automation and AI
• CyberScoop, SBOM Adoption Challenges, AI Coding and Transparency
• The New Stack, Microsoft GitHub Repositories and Malware
• Cyber Security Insiders, Container Security Requires More Than Scanning
• Cloud Native Now, CleanStart Takes Aim at BusyBox to Harden Container Security

Awards

• 2026 Cyber 150 | Named among the top 10 fastest-growing cybersecurity companies
• Cloud Awards | Shortlisted for Best Cybersecurity Solution
• The Hacker News Awards | Recognized for Software Supply Chain Posture Management

Why It Worked

Product announcements supplied regular proof of progress, while executive commentary placed the company inside larger discussions about software supply chain security and AI-assisted development.

Repeated exposure also gave reporters more than one way to understand CleanStart. Some first encountered the company through hardened container images. Others found its executives in stories about SBOMs, AI coding or software provenance. Awards added outside validation as the company's story grew.

After more than 85 placements, CleanStart has a searchable record of company growth and technical participation across the publications read by security and technology decision-makers.

Learn more about our technology PR practice.