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Second Lorca cohort to focus on supply chain security

The second cohort of companies to benefit from the new London cyber innovation centre will focus on user-centric security and securing supply chains

Warwick Ashford
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Published: 09 Jan 2019 0:01

The second group of pioneering cyber security startups to benefit from London’s £13.5m government-funded cyber innovation centre has been announced.

The centre, led by innovation centre Plexal in partnership with Deloitte’s cyber team and the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) at Queen’s University Belfast, was officially opened in June 2018, when the first companies to pass through the incubator were introduced.

The centre, officially known as the London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (Lorca), will support the startups in scaling their organisations at pace and to access and grow into new markets, secure further investment, and recruit and retain the best talent.

The second cohort will focus on issues identified by a panel of cyber leaders as the most important to the industry, which are user-centric security and supply chain security.

Chosen for their growth potential, including commercial application, the startups will receive a year of bespoke, world-class support at London’s Here East tech campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The cohort will have access to leading experts, including one-to-one commercial and technical support from Deloitte’s Cyber Risk Service team and academic and engineering support from the CSIT, which is the UK’s Innovation and Knowledge Centre for cyber security and the UK’s largest cyber security-focused university technology research, development and innovation centre.

The startups have been tasked with developing systems to make it easier for employees to keep cyber aware and safe, and technologies that enable better management of the cyber security risk in increasingly complex supply chains.

Startups making a difference to cyber safety

The cohort includes Xanadata, which enables customers to hunt for millions of cyber threats on any network in real time for live traffic, and even faster for historic activity data to process several months of activity in minutes.

Another cohort member is Crypto Quantique, which has developed a quantum-driven secure chip and created a security platform that makes end-to-end security seamless and easy-to-implement for connected devices. 

Other cohort members include CyNation, RazorSecure, Bob’s Business, OutThink, Distributed Management Systems, ObjectTech and  CyberSmart.

The first cohort of nine cyber security innovators, which focused on cyber security orchestration and automation, included ZoneFox, which was recently acquired by US cyber security firm Fortinet, and Ioetec, which connects users to their internet-connected devices securely.

Lorca director Lydia Ragoonanan said the engagement from industry in the development and selection process would ensure the cohort has clear markets to scale into and addresses the cyber challenges that will make the most difference to industry.

“We’re thrilled to welcome these high-potential UK companies that have genuinely promising solutions to the biggest industry challenges in cyber security. Following on from the success of the first cohort, we look forward to seeing these 11 companies grow and thrive,” she said.

Read more about UK cyber security innovation

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  • Second GCHQ Cyber Accelerator kicks off.
  • Cyber security should not be seen as a necessary evil, but an economic opportunity, says UK government.
  • The NCSC aims to ensure the UK has the ability to take offensive action if necessary, while also growing an innovative cyber security industry.

Digital minister Margot James said the latest cohort selected by Lorca highlighted how the UK continues to be at the forefront of cyber innovation.

“Supporting these businesses through all stages of their growth will help make the UK the safest place to be online and ensure that through the government’s modern Industrial Strategy the UK maintains its position as a world leader in cyber security,” said James.

Stephen Meredith, head of outbound marketing at Xandata, said Lorca provided a great opportunity to collaborate with other innovative UK scaleups. “It gives fantastic access to cutting-edge engineering facilities and commercial coaching from industry leaders at the cutting edge of the fight against cyber threats,” he said.

Caroline Thomas, strategy director at ObjectTech, welcomed the opportunity to partner with Lorca. “As a UK cyber organisation entering a phase of exponential growth, we see Lorca an ideal partner to support us to scale in a sustainable way, setting ObjectTech up for long-term global success,” she said.

Making the UK the safest place to be online

By 2021, Lorca is expected to have stimulated the growth of at least 72 high-potential companies, grown up to 2,000 jobs and secured £40m in investment.

Lorca is a key pillar of the wider National Cyber Security Strategy 2016 to 2021, which aims to position the UK as a world leader in cyber security innovation and, ultimately, make the UK the safest place to be online.

The innovation centre is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) as part of the government’s five-year, £1.9bn investment to keep the UK safe online.

Mark Sayers, deputy director for the National Cyber Security Strategy at the Cabinet Office, underlined the importance of innovation at the International Security Expo 2018 in London in November 2018.

“As the threat from criminals and nation states continues to evolve, we must keep innovating and stepping up our game to rise to the challenge,” he said.  

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