Nine tech start-ups graduate from the GCHQ's cybersecurity accelerator

The Accelerator is part of the UK Government’s £1.9bn National Cyber Security Strategy and the Cheltenham Innovation Centre.

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) announced today the successful graduation of nine tech start-ups to graduate from the GCHQ Cyber Accelerator Programme, a Government initiative to advance the next generation of cybersecurity systems.

The programme delivered in conjunction with Wayra, the startup accelerator scheme backed by Telefonica Open Future, saw nine companies develop cutting-edge products and services to help enhance the UK’s cyber defenses.

The Accelerator is part of the UK Government’s £1.9bn National Cyber Security Strategy and the Cheltenham Innovation Centre and is a collaboration between the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), GCHQ, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and Wayra UK and aims to drive innovation in the cybersecurity sector.

“On behalf of the NCSC, I would like to congratulate the second cohort on their completion of the Accelerator. It has been exciting to collaborate with such innovative start-ups, tackling such a broad range of problems. I’m really pleased that Wayra UK will continue to be our partner. I look forward to working with them and meeting more pioneering entrepreneurs as we launch the next cohort," said Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Cyber Skills and Growth.

"The NCSC Cyber Accelerator programme is a great example of government, industry and tech start-ups coming together to benefit from the advice of world-class experts and tackle cybercrime," said Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The nine companies who took part in the nine-month accelerator programme include

• Cybershield detects phishing and spear phishing and alerts employees before they mistakenly act on deceptive emails,
• Elliptic detects and investigates cybercrime involving crypto-currencies, enabling the company to identify illicit blockchain activity and provide intelligence to financial institutions and law enforcement agencies,
• ExactTrak supplies embedded technology that protects data and devices, giving the user visibility and control even when the devices are turned off,
• Intruder provides a proactive security monitoring platform for internet-facing systems and businesses, detecting system weaknesses before hackers do,
• Ioetec provides a plug-and-play cloud service solution to connect Internet of Things devices with end-to-end authenticated, encrypted security,
• RazorSecure provides advanced intrusion and anomaly detection for aviation, rail and automotive sectors,
• Secure Code Warrior has built a hands-on, gamified Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) learning platform to help developers write secure code,
• Trust Elevate solves the problem of age verification and parental consent for young adults and children in online transactions, and
• Warden helps businesses protect their users from hacks in real time by monitoring for suspicious activity.