Seven London Scaleups Join Tech Nation’s Cyber Programme 2.0

Tech Nation, the growth platform for UK tech scaleups and leaders, has today revealed Chorley-based PPC Protect as one of the 22 cyber security companies selected to join its Cyber 2.0 growth programme. The announcement comes at a time when the world tackles increased cyber security threats in light of COVID-19.

Many of the companies joining the programme are also directly providing new solutions and responses to COVID-19. For instance, ByzGen are working closely with strategic partners, to identify ways to improve the exchange of sensitive medical data between primary health providers in the NHS. CyberSmart have created a new Small Business Resilience Hub to help SMEs navigate the transition to remote working safely.

At a time when cyber security has never been more important, the Cyber programme aims to unlock the growth potential for early-stage cyber scaleups. The programme addresses key issues facing cyber founders, including scaling internationally, scaling company culture and navigating access to clients and stakeholders in the cyber ecosystem.

Cyber security is already a key growth sector in the UK; between 2015 and 2019 UK cyber companies raised £7.8bn, placing the country third in the world for cyber investment after the US and China. And, over the next few weeks and months, businesses could realise just how essential the industry’s services are.

Companies who have previously been on the programme have seen considerable success. White Bullet, an AI risk scoring software provider, doubled their annual recurring revenue, expanded their operations into Asia and forged potential projects in the US off the back of the Cyber 1. 0 trip to New York. Red Sift raised $8.8M Series A finance and started its expansion in the USA market. Awen Collective won a 12 month project with the Ministry of Defence, extending their Dot product into the military and defence domain and increased incoming work orders by 5 times from the previous financial year.

The programme is supported by partners CBRE, RSM, Talent Works International and Wilson Sonsini who bring their expertise and networks to Cyber 2.0.

Mike Jackson, Entrepreneur Success Director, Tech Nation, commented: “The UK is already an acknowledged leader in cyber security, raising £7.8bn between 2015 and 2019, placing the UK third in the world for cyber after the US and China. In these unprecedented times that we face in light of COVID-19, there has never been a more important time to invest in and support innovative cyber solutions. At Tech Nation we are delighted to announce the second cohort of Cyber 2.0, to help unlock the growth potential for early-stage cyber scaleups.”

Marcus Ralphs, CEO, ByzGen commented: “We were drawn to the Tech Nation Cyber 2.0 growth programme because the programme is structured in a way that is a perfect fit for ByzGen. Having access to an amazing network of other scale-ups, industry experts and potential clients and partners will be a game-changer as we approach the complex and risky move from start-up to scale-up.”

Jamie Akhtar, CEO, CyberSmart, commented: “CyberSmart has ambitious growth plans and in order to support them, we have to be a part of the best networks for growth. As we continue to scale-up, the invaluable input we will receive from Tech Nation will help us shape how we grow, how we build a great team, how we reach all those that need us, and ultimately how we build a disrupting business that generates positive impact in the industry. We see Tech Nation’s support as the fuel for the long journey ahead, and we are very much excited to get started.”

Jannat Shah Rajan, COO, eXate, commented: “We are thrilled to be part of Tech Nation’s Cyber 2.0 cohort. We are excited to meet mentors who have been there and done that in the cybersecurity domain, as well as peers who are on a similar journey. We need communities to come together now more than ever, and the UK cybersecurity community is no exception.”

Flavius Plesu, Founder & CEO, OutThink, commented: “We are really excited to be joining this Tech Nation cohort. Having been on two of UK’s best cyber security programmes Cylon (accelerator) and LORCA (scale-up) last year, I have seen first-hand how effective they can be in helping to scale up businesses. Having just completed our seed funding, and looking to scale rapidly towards our series A, Tech Nation was the next logical step up for us.”

James King, Chairman and CEO, PreCog Systems, commented: “We are excited to join the programme as we are looking forward to meeting and working alongside the team and fellow cohort members and to accelerate both our business and also to help others around us to do the same.”

Tim Ward, CEO & Co-founder of ThinkCyber, commented: “Being part of the Tech Nation Cyber cohort is great recognition of ThinkCyber’s success, growth and innovation as a business. We are excited by the opportunity to further raise our profile, and that of our unique Redflags™ platform, whilst getting support in growing at home and abroad and building an invaluable network with investors, clients and mentors.”

ByzGen London

ByzGen’s enterprise-grade, blockchain-inspired, Trusted Data Exchange Platform enables businesses and organisations to exchange their most sensitive and commercially valuable data between disparate partners, supply chains and stakeholders. It ensures absolute originator control, verifiable data states, provable histories and the highest levels of security for all critical enterprise data.

CyberSmart London

CyberSmart provides a unique approach to automating cyber security and compliance in line with (and exceeding) government standards, in order to protect against over 99% of cyber incidents. With its centralised dashboard, desktop and mobile apps, the service reduces the Cyber Essentials certification time from months to hours, making remote auditing the de facto approach for the industry, all whilst checking, fixing and monitoring compliance 24/7.

eXate London

eXate is the “Ink Bomb for Data” and protects production data in order to unlock its value. As a result, it allows data to be safely shared with third parties. By using eXate’s sharding technology, the majority of sensitive data attributes remain within a company’s firewall, allowing insights and analytics to be generated in a secure manner.

OutThink London

OutThink is the world’s first Predictive Human Risk Intelligence platform (SaaS) and is revolutionising security awareness. The enterprise solution gives security teams powerful insights and the visibility they need to make targeted interventions, to manage human risk effectively.

Shufti Pro London

Shufti pro is an AI-powered SaaS solution that makes onboarding and verifications of users up to 40% more cost effective and can verify users in under 30 seconds. Shufti pro offers  Identity Verification, KYC, AML & KYB solutions in over 230 countries.

ThinkCyber London

ThinkCyber engages staff across medium to large corporations to understand and protect themselves against cyber-threats by delivering ongoing, real-time and context sensitive security interventions and guidance. They provide a cross-sector solution and offer the unique capability to deliver secure behaviour change in employees, tailoring content to individual behaviours.

VU Security London

VU Security was created to help both citizens and organisations by providing a product that ensures secure, safe and frictionless transactions.Their cloud infrastructure provides a one-stop shop connection to all of its solutions, letting clients easily integrate their existing systems with VU, whilst protecting users from identity theft and fraud.

Cyber Cohort 2.0 Judges

• Mivy James – Head of Consulting, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence
• Robert Coles, Crossword Cybersecurity, (Previously CISO at GSK, NHS, National Grid and Merrill Lynch)
• Cat McDonald, Investor, Albion Capital
• Ken Pentimonti, Principal, Paladin Capital
• Peter Cohen, Managing Director, HolistiCyber
• Becky Pinkard, CISO, Aldermore Bank
• Joe Dauncey, CISO, NATS
• Emma Philpott MBE, CEO, IASME
• Peter Jaco, Investor and Chairman, Apichi
• Tiffany Young, Investor, Pentech Ventures
• Oz Alasha, CEO & Founder, CybSafe
• Matt Palmer, CISO, Willis Towers Watson
• Akriti Dokania, Octopus Ventures
• Pratima Aiyagari, Technology Investor, Ex Cisco Corp Dev
• Andy Williams, Advisor, DIT and Global Transatlantic
• Elaine McKechnie, Senior Manager, InfoSec, Virgin Money
• Deeph Chana, Professor, Imperial College Business School
• Will Sheldon, Vice President, Accel