GCHQ opens accelerator programme to nine new UK startups

Scheme will help new businesses to develop their ideas and secure investment

GCHQ has chosen nine new companies to work alongside it as part of its Cyber Accelerator programme (part of the government's £1.9 billion National Cyber Security Strategy), now in its second incarnation.

These businesses will work with the intelligence agency and other business leaders for nine months to develop their ideas into workable solutions and tools. They will also gain financial support for the same reason.

"[We] want to help: whether it's access to our people, our data, access to other people, technical help, whatever it is, we'll do our best to help you," said National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) technical director Ian Levy at the launch event.

The nine companies are:

• RazorSecure - Intrusion and anomaly detection for the transport sector
• ExactTrak - Data and device protection through embedded technology
• Elliptic - Detection and investigation of cryptocurrency cybercrime
• Trust Elevate - Age verification and parental consent in online transactions
• Warden - Real-time monitoring for businesses
• Intruder - Security monitoring for internet-facing systems and businesses
• Secure Code Warrior - A gamified SaaS learning platform for developers
• Ioetec - A plug-and-play cloud solution to connect IoT devices with end-to-end security
• Cybershield - Phishing and spear phishing detection

Chris Ensor, NCSC deputy director for cyber skills and growth, said, "There's a bunch of problems out there and we want solutions to them. That's what we hope we've got with the companies that we've selected for the accelerator… Yes, we're trying to put new capabilities and new ideas out, yes, we're trying to help startups, but we're also trying to work out how we work in a much more agile way."

This second scheme follows the launch of the first iteration in December 2016, when seven startups were selected for a three month programme aimed at boosting sales and business development, as well as securing follow-on investment.