Record year for UK’s Cyber Security ecosystem

One of the UK’s most geographically distributed startup sectors has been bucking global startup trends in 2022. Following the launch of the UK Security ecosystem database, in partnership with Cyber Exchange we’ve explored the state of the UK Cyber Security Ecosystem in numbers.

Report - UK Cyber Security Report 2022

Record year for VC investing

UK Cyber security startups have raised $607M so far in 2022, more than the previous record set in 2021. Record investment has been driven by an increase in late-stage rounds, including a headline-making $181M Series C for Copper. While foreign investors are driving mid- to late-stage rounds, contributing more than 67% Uk Cybersecurity funding in 2022 year to date.

Early-stage funding however is at its lowest since 2017, with only $156M raised from rounds under $40M in 2022.

uk cyber security ecosystem

UK’s Cyber ecosystem grew faster than other top global Cyber ecosystems

UK Cyber security startups are now worth $30B, a 7.6x increase since 2017, growing faster than the top Cyber ecosystems worldwide including US, China, the EU and Israel. There is still significant room for growth, as the UK Cyber ecosystem is just 4% the size of the US’s, and 4x smaller than Israel’s.

uk cyber security ecosystem

Universities and public support are vital to commercialization

University spinouts account for 18% of the combined enterprise value of the UK Cyber ecosystem, compared to only 4% of the UK tech ecosystem overall. Key UK cyber successes include Darktrace and Featurespace, both spinouts from the University of Cambridge, as well as PQ Shield and Quantum Dice, spinouts from the University of Oxford. 

To further enhance the quality of research in the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre and UKRI have sponsored the Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, regrouping 19 universities meeting the highest Cyber security research standards.

Additionally, the UK government funds three key Cyber focused accelerator programs: Cyber Runway, NCSC for startups, and CyberASAP, which provide vital support for both domestic and foreign Cyber security companies and researchers.

uk cyber security ecosystem

Cyber Security, key to growth in other sectors

As cyber threats increase, so do the need for prevention, detection and response across multiple industries. Cyber Insurance companies like Envelop allow companies to quantify and manage cyber risks, providing insurance products on top of monitoring platforms. Edtech companies like CultureAI specialize in reducing human cyber risks behaviors through employee coaching and monitoring.

UK Cyber security startups also attend to the needs of local and foreign Governmental institutions, with companies like Worldr participating in securing critical national and citizen data, and others such as SecAlliance helping detect and respond to cyber threats endangering national security.

uk cyber security ecosystem

Discover the full scope of UK’s Cyber Security by downloading the report.

Report - UK Cyber Security Report 2022

 

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