British cyber-security firm Post-Quantum scores £8 mln Series A

Post-Quantum, a London-based cyber-security firm developing products for government and financial clients, closed an £8 million (about $10.3 million) Series A funding round with participation from VMS Investment Group and AM Partners. The new capital adds to existing seed funding of £800,000 (about $1 million).

PRESS RELEASE

July 7th, 2016 – British cyber-security firm Post-Quantum, which specialises in developing defence-grade cyber-security solutions that protect global investment banks and enterprises’ data and communications systems against sophisticated criminal and nation state attacks, has today closed an £8 million Series A funding round.

Following seven years of research and development, resulting in the accumulation of over 20 patents, Post-Quantum has recently won classified government contracts in secure communications, delivered a project to Barclays’ Global Information Security division, and showcased a post-quantum secure messaging platform to NATO.

The finance, government and healthcare verticals are experiencing a significant increase in the frequency of cyber attacks from man-in-the-middle, insider and advanced persistent threats. The latest round of funding will enable Post-Quantum to build out its modular product suite to counter the growing threats across these sectors, using its advanced quorum technology, biometric authentication and algorithmically encrypted messaging.

The company has a toolkit consisting of the following modules:

–          Biometric authentication & non-repudiation – A biometric signing and transaction audit tool

–          Quorum-based consensus approval – A data and system access tool that uses fragmented encryption keys to manage consensus sign-off

–          Secure communications – A secure, fully encrypted mobile and desktop messaging platform with compliant archiving

–          Post-quantum secure encryption – An encryption system that is resistant to quantum computer attacks

–          Blockchain – A blockchain enabler, providing an immutable log of critical events for security and compliance purposes

Post-Quantum was founded in 2009 by an experienced team of entrepreneurs and cyber-security experts – Professor Martin Tomlinson, Andersen Cheng and Dr Cen Jung Tjhai. It has a notable advisory board including Brian Snow, former Technical Director of the NSA and Rebecca Bace, former NSA Research Leader and experienced tech investor with Trident Capital. Both are highly respected figures in the world of cryptology and cyber-security.

This latest investment from the Hong Kong based VMS Investment Group and AM Partners adds to the £800,000 of existing seed funding. This includes investments Post-Quantum received from participating in Techstars’ 2015 Barclays Accelerator Programme in London.

Andersen Cheng, CEO, Post-Quantum said: “Post-Quantum has been working exceptionally hard over the last seven years to develop a portfolio of products that will provide the modern enterprise with a defence-grade level of protection in today’s sophisticated and perilous cyber-criminal environment. We have established a strong reputation and generated a lot of interest from some of the biggest names in financial services and government, so having the funding and support of VMS Investment Group and AM Partners is integral to our growth. Our vision is to protect the world’s information, and this funding will enable us to do that.”

Jack Chow, Partner, VMS Investment Group said“We have been thoroughly impressed by the high level of products Post-Quantum has developed. The global business environment has never been at greater risk of complex cyber attacks, and we firmly believe Post-Quantum has the expertise and solutions that can provide defence-grade protection to enterprises across the world.”

Savio Cheung, Partner, AM Partners said“Post-Quantum has an impressive array of products and services that many national defence agencies would be proud of. We are also impressed with the expertise of the company’s founders who between them have formidable experience in the cyber-security field as well as a track record of growing successful and profitable businesses.”

About Post-Quantum

PQ Solutions Limited, trading as Post-Quantum, is a UK based company specialising in secure communications, authentication and encryption. It is staffed by experts who have many years’ experience gained in the defence, intelligence, cryptography, data security and financial services sectors. The directors and advisers collectively have in excess of 300 years of relevant sector experience and own in excess of 60 granted patents in data security and communications.

About VMS Investment Group

Established in 2006, VMS Investment Group, headquartered in Hong Kong, has emerged as one of the leading multi-strategy investment houses involved in private equity, structured finance, securities brokerage and corporate finance advisory services. It has direct investment exposures in over 90 projects with AUM of over US$2bn. VMS Private Equity focuses on investments in the internet, healthcare, media, consumer, modern services and natural resources sectors.

About AM Partners 

AM Partners (Capital) Company Limited (“AM Partners”) is an investment house with expertise in asset management, private equity, structured products as well as corporate finance transactions. AM Partners was established by two founders with over 40 years of experience in investment banking & private equity investments. They have a successful track record in managing a portfolio with AUM in excess of US$300 million covering industries in technology, healthcare, media, real estates, green energy and consumer finance.