Ecole 2600

Ecole 2600 is a French educational institution established in 2021 to address the significant talent shortage in the cybersecurity sector. The school was founded by a team with complementary expertise: Valérie de Saint Père, an entrepreneur with a background in consulting and managing organizations; Axel Dreyfus, a cybersecurity expert and multi-entrepreneur; and Lionel Auroux, a recognized academic and researcher in cybersecurity who previously spent seventeen years at Epita. They pooled €1 million of their own funds to launch the project, which is built on two decades of research. The school's name is a symbolic reference to the 2600 Hz frequency historically used by early phone hackers.

The institution provides comprehensive training programs focused exclusively on cybersecurity, covering technical, security, and governance dimensions. Its primary offering is a three-year work-study program, which culminates in a Level 7 RNCP certification, equivalent to a Master's degree (Bac+5). This program is structured with students spending one week in school and four weeks at a partner company, ensuring tuition is free and students are remunerated. Starting in September 2025, the school will also offer a post-baccalaureate program, allowing students to pursue a three-year (Bac+3) or five-year (Bac+5) track. The curriculum is modular, allowing for personalized learning paths and certification of each acquired skill.

Ecole 2600's business model initially revolved around tuition fees of approximately €10,000 per year, largely covered by partner companies and their respective OPCOs (skills operators). The company achieved a turnover of €1.5 million in 2022. To fuel its expansion, the school raised €6 million in a Series A funding round in April 2023 from investors including Motier Ventures and several business angels. This capital is being used to develop an e-learning platform for continuous professional training for corporate clients, which launched in January 2024. This platform offers remote and in-person modules for upskilling employees. The institution serves a client base of students seeking to enter the cybersecurity field and companies looking to recruit vetted talent or upskill their existing workforce. It has built a network of over 350 partner companies and institutions, including major players like Thales, Naval Group, Orange, the French Ministry of Armed Forces, and ANSSI (the French national agency for information systems security).

Keywords: cybersecurity education, ethical hacking, work-study program, cybersecurity training, RNCP certification, information security, risk management, offensive security, defensive security, cybersecurity governance, professional training, e-learning platform, talent development, tech education, cyber defense, Capture The Flag (CTF), pentesting, security operations center (SOC), digital forensics, security architecture