Cyber security firm Cytix raises £5m led by Northern Gritstone with Auriga Cyber Ventures
This article covers Cytix, a Manchester-based cybersecurity startup, and its £5m series A funding round led by Northern Gritstone with participation from Auriga Cyber Ventures, PXN Ventures and the British Business Bank via the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. The funding will accelerate rollout of its change risk platform, which monitors and validates the security risk of software changes to support enterprise and regulated-sector security and compliance teams.
Cytix, a Manchester-based cybersecurity startup, has raised £5 million in a series A funding round led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from existing investors Auriga Cyber Ventures and PXN Ventures. The funding will accelerate rollout of Cytix’s change risk platform, a tool designed to monitor and validate the security risk of software changes — a growing concern as AI-assisted development and continuous delivery increase the volume and speed of code changes in enterprise environments.
Why it matters
Organisations are making software changes faster than traditional security controls can keep up. Cytix points to research showing 62% of security leaders see security risk shifting from latent to immediate, while only 38% feel prepared for the volume of AI-generated code entering their environments. For regulated industries and large enterprises, that gap creates compliance and operational risk — and a potential market for tools that can demonstrate how change-related risk is assessed and handled.
The £5 million series A signals investor appetite for startups that convert fast-moving development practices into auditable risk workflows, rather than relying solely on vulnerability scanning.
Inside the product
Cytix’s platform sits between a customer’s software development lifecycle and its risk, security and compliance teams. It continuously monitors software changes, analyses and validates the risk associated with each change, and records how that risk was handled so organisations can explain decisions to regulators and auditors.
Rather than just listing vulnerabilities, Cytix aims to act as a control point through which every software change passes: it recommends security actions, validates the assessed risk and stores the evidence trail. The company says customers can access the platform directly or via managed service partnerships with NCC Group and KPMG — respectively a global cybersecurity consultancy and a multinational professional services firm — which can help with deployment and ongoing governance in regulated environments.
Who are the investors?
The round was led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from existing backers Auriga Cyber Ventures and PXN Ventures. The British Business Bank is also involved through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, reflecting public-sector support for technology businesses in the North of England.
Northern Gritstone positions itself as an investor in deeptech companies with global ambition from the North of England. Auriga Cyber Ventures is a specialist cyber investor that has supported Cytix since its early stages. The involvement of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II links the round to government-backed regional growth initiatives.
In the announcement, Duncan Johnson, CEO at Northern Gritstone, said:
Northern Gritstone is proud to support another ambitious Manchester-based business in an exciting phase of its growth.
In the announcement, Sarah Isal, Investor at Auriga Cyber Ventures, said:
We invested in Cytix because the team identified early that software change would become a critical cybersecurity challenge. Since then, they've shown the resilience and discipline to execute on that vision, building a product that's earning the trust of enterprise customers and strategic partners alike. We're proud to continue supporting Ben, Thomas and the team in this next phase of growth.
In the announcement, Sue Barnard, Investor at British Business Bank, said:
Cytix is a great example of the ambitious technology businesses emerging from the North of England, developing innovative solutions to address the challenges created by the rapid growth of AI and software development. Through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, we're supporting businesses like Cytix that align with the Government's Modern Industrial Strategy, helping to strengthen the North's thriving digital and technology ecosystem.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Ben Armstrong, Co-founder at Cytix, said:
We chose Northern Gritstone for their conviction in investing in deeptech companies in the North of England with global ambition. Northern Gritstone and Cytix share the belief that software change is becoming a key risk for organisations and those that build software need a solution that scales with the current pace of development. We're also grateful to the existing investors that have backed us since the early days and increased their commitment because they've seen the thesis play out. Software is changing. AI-assisted development means change now happens at machine speed. Meanwhile, very few security leaders have control over, or understanding of, those changes from a risk perspective. Right now, existing tools can tell you what vulnerabilities you have, but can't tell you about the risk. We launched Cytix' change risk management platform to get control of that risk.
Armstrong’s comments frame Cytix as addressing an operational and regulatory shortfall: not just identifying vulnerabilities but putting change into a risk context and producing auditable evidence for compliance teams.
The bigger picture
The deal highlights growing interest from UK cybersecurity investors in tools that make AI-driven development auditable and governable. For companies operating in regulated sectors — financial services, healthcare and critical infrastructure — the ability to demonstrate how change is risk-assessed will become part of routine compliance.
The involvement of a regional development fund and a North England-focused investor underlines the continued flow of capital into startups outside London, backed by a mix of private and public capital seeking to commercialise technologies born from the UK’s deeptech and enterprise cybersecurity ecosystem. As AI accelerates software change, expect more funding rounds aimed at bridging software development and risk governance across Europe.
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