Disruptive founders join Cyber Runway Ignite to advance clients, company culture and connections

Fresh from onboarding our Launch cohort to Cyber Runway, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, with support from the Centre for Secure Information Technologies and Deloitte, we’re pleased to welcome six founders to our Cyber Runway Ignite stream.

We’ve designed Cyber Runway Ignite to deliver a tailored programme that will empower our exceptional startup leaders to scale their businesses to new heights and unleash their leadership potential.

Our cohort of disruptors are working on solutions for everything from pen testing and password fatigue through to device security and compliance. Possessing a range of goals unique to them, these include recruiting the right staff, securing funding and managing investors, encouraging inclusivity, ensuring continuing innovation and more.

We’ll support their aims over a six-month period through mentorship, professional services, leadership coaching, a founder retreat, international exposure and connections to industry and investors – all of which will be done as part of a unique community of peers who have similar hopes, fears and experiences.

Meet the new Cyber Runway Ignite founders below:

Anca Stancu, Managing Director and Founder, Safetech Innovations Global Services 
Anca is responsible for steering Safetech’s growth and strategic direction alongside her dedicated team in the UK. The business aims to provide clients with a clearer visibility of their threats and help them become better prepared and protected through greater intelligence about their attack surface and vulnerabilities than any other cyber security provider in the market. Safetech also continually invests in R&D to build its mobile security solution.

Clare Ryan, CEO and Founder, Cybrisc
From biomedical sciences to STEM contributions where she widened access, Clare’s passion for problem-solving and innovation led her to pivot into the world of cyber security. As CEO of Cybrisc, an award-winning cyber security startup dedicated to ensuring that every small business can access tailored cyber insurance that accurately reflects the specific risks they face, Clare is committed to bringing a new level of authenticity and precision to assessing cyber risk, ensuring that even the smallest businesses can navigate the digital world securely and confidently.

Cristian Gherhes, CEO and Founder, Lexverify
Cristian is an experienced social scientist who’s conducted pioneering research on AI across different sectors and geographies, leading on multi-million-pound UK government-funded projects during his time in academia. Cristian founded Lexverify with a mission to make risk prevention as easy as spell checking and the company’s AI-powered assistant helps prevent cyber, compliance and legal risks on electronic communications in real time. The business enables organisations operating in highly regulated environments to achieve proactive compliance at scale, seamlessly integrating real-time risk prevention and ongoing training across multiple communication platforms. 

Lucy Burnford, CEO and Co-Founder, coc00n
Lucy began her career running a marketing agency for 12 years before founding a tech company in the automotive sector which became a joint venture with The AA. In 2023, she co-founded coc00n, which delivers cyber security services to high value, high risk individuals – entrepreneurs, executive teams, high profile sports and media personalities, private family offices, boutique businesses – at a level previously only available to those under government protection. Lucy leads a team of technical experts, delivering proactive, unrivalled cyber security with absolute discretion and privacy, with clients benefitting from access to a dedicated Cyber Concierge service to address any concerns about cyber risk and digital exposure.

Oliver Spence, CEO and Co-Founder, Cybaverse 
Oliver’s career spans over a decade working on global operations for the Ministry of Defence, with his transition into the cyber security field beginning with a focus on penetration testing. He has since navigated most areas of cyber, including SOC operations, threat intelligence and compliance. With Cybaverse, Oliver is dedicated to simplifying cyber security for SMEs and has created a leading managed security service provider known for its innovative SaaS cyber security management system, Cybaverse.ai. Under his leadership, Cybaverse has transformed from a small niche consultancy, partnering with industry-leading cyber companies and achieving significant milestones.

Patrick Smith, CEO and Founder, zally 
Patrick is a serial entrepreneur who defies convention, possessing a vision to catalyse industry evolution. With Manchester-based zally, Patrick is using advanced AI technology and behavioural biometrics for seamless and secure continuous authentication. By continuously confirming user identities through device micro-interactions, he aims to eliminate passwords, build the UK’s next unicorn and secure the digital world.