Green City Group: Driving Sustainable Growth with Cybersecurity at the Core

Since its founding in 2010, Green City Group (GCG) has established itself as a boutique private equity firm with a clear mission: to acquire and grow businesses that lead the way in renewable energy and sustainable technologies. Focused on sectors such as solar energy, wind power, and eco-friendly innovations, the firm targets companies with enterprise values between $30 million and $100 million. By combining disciplined strategic investments with operational improvements, GCG seeks to unlock value while advancing a more sustainable economy.

The firm’s portfolio includes nine companies, each chosen for its leadership in renewable energy and potential for significant growth. These businesses drive innovation with advanced solar panel technologies, patented wind energy systems, and creative solutions that bypassed zoning challenges pushed by oil and gas companies. However, this diversity comes with complexity: each company operates with unique IT systems and technology stacks built for their own operational needs.

Executive Summary: Resolving Cybersecurity Challenges with the M&A Cybersecurity Tool SwanScreen

Green City Group (GCG) faced a growing problem: managing cybersecurity across nine portfolio companies, each with its own IT team, tools, and definition of “secure enough.” The result was a fragmented and inconsistent approach to cybersecurity, leaving GCG without a clear view of cyber risks across its portfolio. This issue was further complicated by the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting requirements tied to GCG’s latest fund, which specifically required detailed cybersecurity metrics as part of governance disclosures.

Their current approach (or lack thereof) was no longer just inefficient; it was risky. A single cyber incident had the potential to torpedo investor confidence and invite regulatory scrutiny, jeopardizing both the firm’s reputation and its financial stability.

Green City Group turned to BlackSwan Cyber and our M&A cybersecurity tool SwanScreen. The platform’s rapid deployment, detailed analytics, and benchmarking capabilities enabled GCG to standardize cybersecurity practices across its portfolio. This shift improved visibility and improved investor confidence in GCG's cybersecurity strategy, setting a new standard for cybersecurity management for the firm.

Challenges: Tackling a Fragmented Cybersecurity Landscape Across the Portfolio

Green City Group’s portfolio companies operated with diverse IT infrastructures and varying levels of cybersecurity maturity. While this technological diversity was essential for innovation, it created significant obstacles when attempting to establish a unified cybersecurity strategy. These challenges became even more pronounced with the ESG reporting requirements tied to GCG’s most recent fund.

The ESG Connection: Governance Gaps and Cyber Metrics

As part of their commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, GCG’s fund required detailed reporting on cybersecurity metrics - a key component of the governance pillar. Yet GCG faced an obvious problem: they had no way to consistently gather and report on cybersecurity practices across their portfolio. Without standardized metrics, the firm risked delivering incomplete or inaccurate ESG reports, which could undermine investor confidence and attract regulatory scrutiny.

Costly and Inefficient Assessments

Green City Group looked at traditional cybersecurity consulting firms and found that their approaches weren't viable. They received quotes for cybersecurity assessments between $15,000 and $45,000 per portfolio company, depending on the depth of the assessment and the scope defined by the portco. Beyond the financial burden, these assessments took three to five weeks per company to complete, placing significant demands on internal teams and creating operational drag across the portfolio.

In the words of Ryan Douglas, Co-Managing Partner at BlackSwan Cyber:

"Having worked at traditional cybersecurity consulting firms, we saw firsthand how slow, expensive, and complicated assessments could be for private equity companies and their portfolio companies. That’s why we built SwanScreen - to deliver consistent assessments within days, not weeks, at a far more accessible price point. And just as importantly, it minimizes the strain on portfolio company resources, making it a win for both PE firms and their investments."

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Solution: SwanScreen - The M&A Cybersecurity Tool

Faced with escalating costs, inefficiencies, and mounting ESG pressures, Green City Group turned to SwanScreen, a cybersecurity tool designed specifically for M&A environments. With its ability to rapidly assess and benchmark cybersecurity practices across diverse IT environments, SwanScreen provided GCG with the visibility and consistency they needed.

Key Benefits of SwanScreen:

• Rapid Deployment: Delivered detailed cybersecurity assessments for all nine portfolio companies within days

• ESG-Ready Reporting: Integrated cybersecurity metrics seamlessly into GCG’s ESG framework, enabling consistent and transparent disclosures.

• Cost Efficiency: Avoided six-figure costs associated with traditional assessments, freeing resources for other strategic initiatives.

• Actionable Insights: BlackSwan Cyber delivers a Findings Debrief, presenting a clear analysis of cybersecurity gaps along with targeted, actionable recommendations for improvement.

• AI Assistance: SwanScreen incorporates AI to streamline the assessment process, guiding portfolio companies step-by-step through each stage. This is particularly valuable for SMBs without dedicated cybersecurity experts, ensuring they can complete assessments with accuracy and efficiency.

• Scalability for Target Acquisitions: Designed to integrate seamlessly into the due diligence process, SwanScreen allows GCG to evaluate and onboard cybersecurity practices of new acquisitions efficiently, ensuring consistent governance across their expanding portfolio.

• Portfolio-Wide Standardization: Established a baseline for cybersecurity maturity across all companies, creating a consistent and scalable governance framework for identifying companies that don't meet the standard established for the Fund and overall portfolio.

Conclusion: Transforming Cybersecurity into a Strategic Asset with SwanScreen

The implementation of SwanScreen improved how Green City Group approached cybersecurity. What began as a fragmented and costly annyance became an opportunity to enhance governance, improve operational efficiency, and build trust with investors.

By integrating SwanScreen into its ESG framework, GCG demonstrated its commitment to improving their overall cybersecurity practices. This proactive approach not only met the fund’s reporting requirements but also set a new standard for cybersecurity management, ensuring long-term value creation across the portfolio.

In addition to improving its existing portfolio, GCG now has a streamlined process to quickly evaluate cybersecurity risks in potential acquisitions. With SwanScreen integrated into their cyber due diligence, GCG can efficiently screen targets for security gaps, enabling faster, more informed decisions during the acquisition process. This capability ensures new investments align with GCG’s governance standards and mitigates risks before they impact the portfolio.

By transforming a fragmented challenge into a scalable solution, Green City Group has positioned cybersecurity as a strategic advantage, not just a compliance necessity. With SwanScreen, they’ve bridged gaps in their portfolio, streamlined acquisition processes, and genuinely improved investor confidence in their governance practices. For private equity firms seeking a true M&A Cybersecurity Advisor, contact us to learn how we can use SwanScreen and other unique services to improve your cybersecurity strategy.