CyberASAP, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and delivered by Innovate UK through UK Research and Innovation, has supported academics from more than 83 UK universities since its inception. The programme has led to the formation of 45 commercial companies alongside multiple technology licensing agreements.
The follow-on funding total, which spans venture capital investment, scaling rounds and other financing secured by companies after completing the programme, represents the aggregate raised by alumni across all cohorts to date.
Notable alumni include CAPSLOCK, which secured private venture capital after completing the accelerator. Dr Andrea Cullen MBE, co-founder of CAPSLOCK, credited the programme with building core commercial capabilities: "CyberASAP gave us the confidence, language and process to talk about our business to investors, customers and each other. It also gave us a grounding in the commercial side of things, such as pitching, understanding customers, and thinking about a route to market. These were concepts that we hadn't had to consider before."
The programme provides academic teams with structured guidance in market validation, value proposition development and commercial awareness, and connects participants to industry mentors, strategic partners and potential investors. A focus on customer discovery and specific use-case validation is designed to align academic innovation with commercial demand before teams commit to the commercialisation process.
Emma Fadlon and Robin Kennedy, co-directors of CyberASAP at Innovate UK Business Connect, said the funding milestone reflects a sustained approach to connecting academic research with market need: "We are supported by a fantastic network of sector leaders and commercialisation experts. Their collective insights have guided our participants and alumni to ensure the technologies being developed are aligned to real-world threats and commercial opportunities."
The tenth cohort of academic teams has now joined the programme.
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