Cheltenham-based VC Firm Osney Capital today announced the first close of its debut Fund to invest in the British cybersecurity startups, marking it the UK’s first specialist cybersecurity Seed Fund – the Fund is oversubscribed from its original target of €58.3 million.
The fund received a cornerstone investment from the British Business Bank and is accredited by the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF). The new fund is further supported by a group of institutional and private investors, including: IronGate Capital Advisors and East X Ventures, the venture capital arm of East X. In addition, the fund has raised capital from a number of exited UK cyber entrepreneurs and senior leaders in the cyber and national security communities.
Joshua Walter, Partner of Osney Capital, said: “The UK’s cyber ecosystem is one of the country’s greatest untapped strengths. With world-class talent and the scale to produce the next generation of industry leaders, we have a unique opportunity to compete on the global stage. Our mission with this Fund is to identify and back the next wave of UK cyber founders – providing them with the specialist capital they need to build globally significant companies, products and technologies.”
Osney Capital was founded in 2021 and is led by three founders, Adam Cragg, Josh Walter and Paul Wilkes, who together have decades of experience in technical, commercial, and regulatory environments in cyber and national security as well as early-stage investing.
Osney Capital was selected as part of the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme, which commits cornerstone capital to a small number of UK emerging managers who address high-potential equity funding gaps in the UK’s startup ecosystem.
The team plans to invest in 30 portfolio companies at pre-Seed and Seed stage, writing cheques between €291k and €2.9 million, with capacity for follow-on investments in Series A rounds. Prior to launching this fund, the team made a number of investments into early-stage UK cyber companies, including:
- MindGard, a Lancaster University spin-out that delivers AI security testing Sitehop, a Sheffield-based hardware-enforced network security specialist.
- London-based RevEng.AI, an AI powered binary analysis platform for reverse engineering and malware analysis.
- ESProfiler, a Manchester-based security investment platform delivering continuous optimisation of the security tech stack to CISOs.
Christine Hockley, Managing Director and Co-Head of Funds at the British Business Bank, added: “We are pleased to make this commitment to Osney Capital’s Fund I, which aligns with our objective of supporting promising companies to access the long-term investment they need to fulfil their growth potential. Cyber resilience lies at the heart of the UK’s role as a responsible cyber power.
“Our commitment to Osney Capital will capitalise on the strong investment opportunity offered by growing UK companies within the sector while also building the UK’s national resilience.”
The UK cyber security industry reached €15.4 billion in revenue in 2025, marking a 12% YoY increase, with growth driven by the increasing complexity of cyber threats, heightened regulatory pressures, and the rapid adoption of AI and other technologies.
At the same time, sustained investment in UK universities and the expansion of specialist computer science and cybersecurity programmes have reportedly boosted the country’s talent pipeline, fuelling innovation nationwide.
However, the early-stage cybersecurity ecosystem is structurally challenging for generalist capital to access due to its decentralised and closed-networked nature. This presents a potential opportunity for a specialist Seed investor like Osney Capital to back these companies early, and provide tailored support and capital to help them scale and attract global investment.
Dame Fiona Murray DCMG CBE, who serves on the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the NATO Innovation Fund, said: “Science and technology are essential to national competitiveness and increasingly, our competitiveness is grounded in national security. Osney Capital’s Fund is an opportunity for the UK to build on the UK’s strong advantage and excellence in cyber security.
“In times of global uncertainty, we must foster a safe, secure and trusted digital economy in the UK – across all our digital and physical infrastructure. This means investing in and promoting innovation in the UK’s cyber security ecosystem. The work of Osney Capital’s Fund is a matter of national security, digital sovereignty, and economic leadership.”
