A Bristol-based cybersecurity services firm on a mission to protect its clients from modern, sophisticated hackers, is poised for a period rapid global growth – including doubling its workforce – after securing a £5.5m investment.
The funding from Gresham House Ventures is OnSecurity’s first investment since its launch in 2018 with the ambition to develop the world’s leading pentest engagement platform. 
Pen testing – or penetration testing – is a security exercise in which a cybersecurity expert attempts to find and exploit vulnerabilities in a computer system.
OnSecurity’s platform efficiently delivers pentests that identify and address vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks and web applications.
The firm also provides human pentesting services via a platform technology that automates traditionally manual, cumbersome processes such as booking, scheduling and reporting.
OnSecurity said it would use the funding to increase its spending on research and development as it looks to achieve its ambition to become a major player in the rapid-growth sector.
It also plans to expand its headcount from 35 to 70 employees over the next few years to support its next stage of growth.
The firm already boasts nearly 300 customers, with more than 5,000 pentests completed to date that found 30,000-plus vulnerabilities.
OnSecurity was launched after it founders met on a large-scale pentesting project in the Middle East.
Co-founder and CEO Conor O’Neill said: “I’m super proud of what the OnSecurity team has achieved as a bootstrapped business to date.
“With no funding, we’ve grown a multi-million turnover business with almost 300 customers and we’ve developed a truly powerful piece of technology in the OnSecurity platform, which makes booking and managing pentests as simple as possible.
“However, we thought the time was right to really accelerate our growth by taking a funding round.
“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.”
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 cybersecurity businesses.
Grace is the co-founder of CyLon Ventures, which invests globally in leading security and resilience startups.
She is recognised by Fortune magazine as one the 13 leading investors in cyber security. Prior to founding CyLon, she spent 10 years in the UK Diplomatic Service working on global security policy in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Steve Carle, GHV Operating Partner at Gresham House Ventures, said: “OnSecurity has 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.”
