Mindgard, a London-based DeepTech startup specialising in security for AI, has raised £6.5 million in funding as it eyes expansion in the United States.
The Lancaster University spinout has also appointed two industry leaders to the roles of head of product and VP of marketing.
The funding was led by .406 Ventures with participation from Atlantic Bridge, Willowtree Investments and existing investors IQ Capital and Lakestar.
The new executives are Dave Ganly, a former director of product at Twilio, and Fergal Glynn, who most recently served as CMO at Next DLP (acquired by Fortinet). They will help to launch Mindgard’s expansion into the North American market with a leadership presence in Boston.
Initially developed under the aegis of Lancaster University, Mindgard harnesses years of PhD-level research in AI security with their automated threat analysis, detection, and response platform already in use by the intelligence community.
AI adoption & maximising Gen Z’s potential: business trends for 2025
The Mindgard platform fully integrates with market-leading cybersecurity products, and is a part of the NVIDIA Inception Programme and Microsoft Founder’s Hub.
“The rapid adoption of AI has introduced new and complex security risks that traditional tools cannot address,” said Greg Dracon, partner at .406 Ventures. “Mindgard’s innovative approach, born out of the distinct challenges of securing AI, equips security teams and developers with the tools they need to deliver secure AI systems.
“Mindgard is well-positioned to lead this emerging market and we are thrilled to partner with them on this journey.”
Dr Peter Garraghan, CEO of Mindgard and Professor at Lancaster University, added: “All software has security risks, and AI is no exception.
“The challenge is that the way these risks manifest within AI is fundamentally different from other software. Drawing on our 10 years of experience in AI security research, Mindgard was created to tackle this challenge. We’re proud to lead the charge toward creating a safer, more secure future for AI.”