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British Business Bank commits up to £36m to Osney Capital’s Fund 1

Press release 07 April 2025

The British Business Bank today announces it has made a cornerstone commitment of up to £36m to Osney Capital’s Fund 1 through its Enterprise Capital Funds programme. The Fund, which is oversubscribed from its original target of £50m, is the first UK-focused cyber specialist seed fund to focus exclusively on early-stage UK cyber security.

Osney Capital, a Cheltenham-based sector specialist venture capital firm, is led by three founders, Adam Cragg, Josh Walter and Paul Wilkes, who together have decades of experience in technical, commercial, and regulatory environments in cyber and national security as well as early-stage investing.

The team plans to invest in 30 portfolio companies across the UK at pre-seed and seed stage, writing cheques between £250k and £2.5m, with capacity for follow-on investments in Series A rounds.

The British Business Bank is the largest domestic investor of UK venture capital and venture growth. The Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds programme is key in helping to develop and maintain effective venture capital provision in the UK, lowering the barriers to entry for emerging fund managers. The programme has backed 50 funds, representing more than £2.5bn of finance and helps those fund managers specifically targeting early-stage businesses with long-term growth potential.

Christine Hockley, Managing Director and Co-Head of Funds, British Business Bank, said

We are pleased to make this commitment to Osney Capital’s Fund I, which aligns with our objective of supporting promising companies to access the long-term investment they need to fulfil their growth potential. Cyber resilience lies at the heart of the UK’s role as a responsible cyber power. Our commitment to Osney Capital will capitalise on the strong investment opportunity offered by growing UK companies within the sector while also building the UK’s national resilience.

Mark Sims, Senior Director, Funds, British Business Bank, said:

The UK is a leader in cyber security innovation but is experiencing a shortage in funding for cyber security companies from specialist investors at the pre-seed and seed stage. By committing to Osney Capital’s Fund I we are working to fill this equity gap, whilst backing businesses developing technologies to protect themselves, their customers and their products.

Paul Wilkes, Partner of Osney Capital said: 

The talent and technologies from the UK’s early-stage Cyber security ecosystem are world class and represent a fantastic opportunity for investors and the UK economy as a whole. We’re delighted to have the support of the British Business Bank as we launch this fund, and look forward to supporting the next generation cyber pioneers in the UK.

Notes to editors

About the British Business Bank

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net zero economy, by improving access to finance for smaller businesses. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller business access to finance programmes for the UK government.

The British Business Bank’s core programmes support over £17.4bn  of finance to almost 64,000  smaller businesses.

As well as increasing the supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of finance options available to smaller businesses. The British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial information to businesses about finance options, featuring short films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make their application a success.

The British Business Bank is also responsible for administering the government’s three Coronavirus loan schemes and its Future Fund, together responsible for delivering £80.4bn in finance to 1.67m businesses. These schemes are now closed to new applications.

British Business Bank plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, registration number 08616013, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. Wholly owned by HM government, the Bank and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for the group and details of each subsidiary and the programme(s) it operates (where applicable) can be found www.british-business-bank.co.uk.

 

About Osney Capital

Osney Capital is a sector specialist venture capital firm, focused exclusively on the early-stage cyber sector in the UK. Everything they do is geared around supporting the UK cyber founders and companies they invest in during the early stages of their growth. For more information, visit https://www.osneycapital.com

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    Figures as at end March 2024

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