Latest NCSC Cyber Accelerator cohort announced

A number of start-ups have gained a place on the acclaimed Cyber Accelerator programme, a joint initiative between the National Cyber Security Centre and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Cyber Accelerator provides companies with the support and expertise to develop their products, which in the latest round are all designed to protect the interconnected systems that connected places – also known as smart cities – depend on to function efficiently. The products include software to help organisations with incident response, and systems that monitor and flag real-time threats. They have the potential to benefit not only the UK but countries around the world.

Since the Accelerator programme began, 40 companies have been successfully mentored by the scheme, raising more than £90 million in funding. The latest start-ups will be the seventh group to benefit from the programme, and for the first time will be a mixture of new companies and Accelerator alumni, whose expertise lie in securing critical assets.

The ten-week scheme, which is to be held entirely virtually, enables tech entrepreneurs to play their part in helping make the UK a safer place to live and work online, as well as encouraging skills and jobs to boost the country’s economic growth.

Chris Ensor, NCSC Deputy Director for Growth, said: “Connected places have huge potential to benefit society, and it’s great to see these companies come forward with such innovative security ideas. The Cyber Accelerator programme will provide excellent support in helping them reach the next level, as it has done with numerous start-ups in the past. We look forward to working with these and other pioneering companies in future to address the UK’s evolving cyber security challenges.”