UK venture capital firm Osney Capital has closed its first fund at a €69mn (£60mn) hard cap. Investor demand pushed the fund above its target, placing Osney among the UK’s early specialist Seed investors focused on cybersecurity.
The British Business Bank made a cornerstone commitment through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme. The National Security Strategic Investment Fund also accredited the vehicle.
Imperial College London’s Endowment joined the final close alongside Planet First Partners. Existing backers also continued their involvement in the fund.
Joshua Walter, founding partner at Osney Capital, said the oversubscribed close sent a clear market signal. Investors see UK cybersecurity as an attractive early-stage opportunity, he said, with specialist investors needed close to founders.
Reaching final close oversubscribed at our hard cap, in this fundraising environment, is the clearest possible signal that investors see what we see: the UK’s cyber sector is one of the most exciting early-stage opportunities globally, and it benefits enormously from specialist capital on the ground, supporting the formation of the next generation of global category winners from the UK.
Joshua Walter, founding partner at Osney Capital
The raise arrives during a busy 2026 for European cybersecurity, AI security and software supply-chain security funding. According to Beinsure, investors have continued to direct capital towards companies securing software, AI agents and third-party technology exposure.
UK companies feature heavily among the reported transactions. Firms based in London and Belfast accounted for several of the larger rounds.
John Anderson, Chief Investment Officer at Imperial College London, said cybersecurity carries growing economic and strategic weight for the UK. He said the investment gives Imperial’s Endowment exposure to the sector through an experienced specialist team.
Imperial expects financial returns from the commitment to help fund its science-for-humanity mission. The university also sees commercial potential in UK-developed cyber technologies.
Cybersecurity is an area of growing economic and strategic importance to the UK, with significant potential for home-grown innovations to become major commercial successes.
John Anderson, CIO at Imperial College London
“Our investment in Osney Capital’s first fund will give us exposure to this opportunity through a highly experienced specialist team, supporting our Endowment’s objective of generating financial returns to support Imperial’s mission of science for humanity”, John Anderson says.
Osney Capital began operations in 2020. The firm invests solely in early-stage UK cybersecurity companies.
Founding partners Adam Cragg, Joshua Walter and Paul Wilkes lead the business. Their strategy centres on helping cyber founders through the early stages of company growth.
The firm argues that industry and governments increasingly depend on cybersecurity. Geopolitical tension and more frequent cyber threats have raised demand for sovereign cyber capabilities.
That demand creates a sizeable commercial opening for UK cybersecurity businesses. According to Beinsure, specialist funds such as Osney are seeking exposure before companies reach later institutional funding rounds.
- Osney reached its first close at more than £50mn a year ago. Since then, the firm has made seven investments in UK cybersecurity companies at pre-Seed and Seed stage.
- Individual cheques range between £250k and £2.5mn. Osney plans to build a portfolio of 30 companies.
The investments cover AI security, disinformation detection and software supply-chain protection. The portfolio includes firms building systems to identify and counter disinformation.
Other portfolio companies secure open-source software and improve identity governance. Some map vulnerabilities, identify attack paths and support proactive threat hunting.
Several businesses generate intelligence on fraud and adversarial activity. The fund has also invested in AI infrastructure intended to make agents more specialised, efficient and observable.
A 2025 UK government report put annual growth in cyber graduates at 20%. This pipeline gives early-stage investors access to founders with technical backgrounds and sector knowledge.
Paloma McGuiness, chief executive of NSSIF, said Osney brings specialist focus to UK cybersecurity investment. She said the firm’s early investments point to the level of talent and innovation available across the country.
NSSIF supports the Osney team as it funds and scales UK cyber technologies. The final close gives the firm capital for its next investments across the domestic cybersecurity market.
