Venture capital firm Osney Capital has announced the first close of its £50 million debut fund to invest in the UK’s cyber security start-ups.

The British firm claims the fund is the UK’s first specialist cyber security seed fund.

The oversubscribed fund received a cornerstone investment from the British Business Bank of £36 million and is accredited by the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF).

The team, led by its three founders, Adam Cragg, Josh Walter and Paul Wilkes, plans to invest in 30 portfolio companies at pre-seed and seed stage.

Each start-up will receive between £250,000 and £2.5 million, with capacity for follow-on investments in Series A rounds.

Osney Capital quoted figures from the UK government which show the UK cybersecurity industry reached £13.2 billion in revenue in 2025, growing by 12 per cent compared to the previous year.

The company said that while the increased use of AI has boosted investment, the early-stage cybersecurity ecosystem is “structurally challenging” for generalist capital to access due to its decentralised and closed-networked nature.

Osney Capital said it wants to take advantage of the “unique opportunity” as a specialist seed investor to back these companies at an early stage and provide tailored support and capital to help them scale and attract global investment.

The British Business Bank claims it is the largest domestic investor of UK venture capital and venture growth, adding that its Enterprise Capital Funds programme is key in helping to develop and maintain effective venture capital provision in the UK, which lowers the barriers to entry for emerging fund managers.

The programme has backed 50 funds, representing more than £2.5 billion of finance and helps those fund managers specifically targeting early-stage businesses with long-term growth potential.

“The UK’s cyber ecosystem is one of the country’s greatest untapped strengths,” said Joshua Walter, partner of Osney Capital. “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.”

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