Gresham House Ventures has made a £5.5mn investment into OnSecurity, a cybersecurity services business providing independent third-party penetration testing (“pentest”) services
Established in 2018 and based in Bristol, OnSecurity has built a technology platform to efficiently deliver pentests that identify and address vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks, and web applications. The business provides high quality human pentesting services via a platform technology that automates traditionally manual, cumbersome processes such as booking, scheduling and reporting. The business has grown rapidly since launch to become a trusted and well-known provider, having built up a customer base of almost 300 clients.
The pentest market is significant, with global annual spend estimated at £4bn and growing, driven by the increasing adoption of cloud computing solutions, a proliferation of open-source code usage and significant regulatory drivers. One particular area of growth is within the financial services sector, where the Digital Operational Resiliency Act will require businesses to conduct annual threat-led penetration testing from January 2025.
The investment will enable OnSecurity to accelerate new customer acquisition and further develop and leverage its existing technology platform through R&D. This is OnSecurity’s first institutional investment round. As part of the investment, Grace Cassy will join the board as non-executive Chair, bringing significant experience of supporting some of the world’s leading cyber security businesses.
The deal, led by Benjamin Faulkner and assisted by Francis Ireland, continues a busy period of dealmaking for Gresham House Ventures. Recent deals this year include a £6.3mn investment into data governance and cyber incident management leaders ActiveNav and Actfore, a £10mn investment into event accreditation platform Accredit Solutions and a successful exit from logistics and warehousing specialist Master Removers Group (3.4x money multiple).
Cavendish, the full-service investment bank for growth and investment companies, were the advisers to OnSecurity on this deal.
Steve Carle, Operating Partner at Gresham House Ventures, said:
“OnSecurity have built a robust and differentiated platform offering in a market that has historically been plagued with manual processes and poor customer experience. We believe the business is well placed to expand its client base further over the coming years and support businesses and organisations worldwide in the face of new cybersecurity challenges. We look forward to working closely with Conor, Grace and the OnSecurity team over the coming years to bring OnSecurity’s innovative solutions to a wider market.”
Conor O’Neill, CEO of OnSecurity, said:
“Securing our first external investment marks an important moment for OnSecurity as we look to further advance our platform’s capabilities and bring our streamlined solutions to more clients. Gresham House Ventures has a fantastic track record of helping to scale up technology-enabled businesses like ours and we are confident that this backing will play a key role in driving the next stage of growth for OnSecurity.”
Zuleika Salter, Head of Private Growth Capital and Partner at Cavendish, said:
“We believe OnSecurity has the best product in a growing market, but more importantly, the founders are deeply respected in their sector, with unrivalled experience and expertise. I am excited to see where they can take the business with the support of Gresham House Ventures. It has been a privilege to work closely with Conor and the team.”
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