In this article
The challenge
Software change is becoming a distinct risk for every organisation as AI-assisted development, agentic workflows, and continuous delivery have outpaced the security models built to govern it. 62% of security leaders acknowledge that security risk in their organisation is moving from a latent problem to an immediate one, with only 38% strongly agreeing that their organisation is prepared for the volume of AI-generated code entering their environment.* The round has been led by Northern Gritstone, a UK venture capital and investment firm that funds science and technology startups in the North of England, with participation from existing investors, Auriga Cyber Ventures and NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II).
Cytix and Northern Gritstone
Ben Armstrong, CEO of Cytix says: “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.”
"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."
Ben Armstrong, Co-Founder of Cytix
Software change risk platform
The funding will accelerate the roll out of Cytix’s newly launched change risk platform. The platform is designed to address the questions raised by rapid software change: whether security should care about the change, what risk it introduces, and what the required action should be. The platform continuously monitors every software change or update a business makes, analyses and validates the risk of that change, and explains to regulators how that risk was handled.
“Software is changing,” explains Armstrong. “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.”
“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.”
Ben Armstrong, Co-Founder of Cytix
The platform sits between a customer's software development lifecycle (SDLC) where change happens, and their risk, security and compliance functions where the change is evidenced for compliance purposes. It is the control point through which every software change passes: understanding what change occurred and the associated business risk, deciding the security action, validating the risk, and providing the evidence to show how it was handled.
Plans for the future
The Series A round will help Cytix reach customers in enterprise and regulated businesses where change governance is a regulatory obligation. Customers can access the platform either directly with Cytix or through its managed service partnerships with NCC Group and KPMG.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “The explosion of AI-assisted software development has led to a race to ensure software implementation remains secure. Cytix’s platform aims to help enterprises take a realistic approach, recognising where change carries the most risk whilst allowing businesses to innovate. Northern Gritstone is proud to support another ambitious Manchester-based business in an exciting phase of its growth.”
“The explosion of AI-assisted software development has led to a race to ensure software implementation remains secure. Cytix’s platform aims to help enterprises take a realistic approach, recognising where change carries the most risk whilst allowing businesses to innovate. Northern Gritstone is proud to support another ambitious Manchester-based business in an exciting phase of its growth.”
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone
Sarah Isal, Principal 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.”
Sue Barnard, Senior Investment Manager 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.”
The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
The purpose of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II is to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunity for new and growing businesses across the North of England. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II will increase the supply and diversity of early-stage finance for the North's smaller businesses, providing funds to firms that might otherwise not receive investment and help to break down barriers in access to finance.
Cytix’s change risk platform is available on general release for customers on 12 August 2026.
About Cytix
Cytix is the security decision layer for a world where software development never stops. It reads the context behind every ticket, pull request, and release, and helps security, engineering, and risk teams decide which software changes carry real risk, what response is proportionate, and what evidence to keep. Cytix already powers KPMG and NCC Group's continuous testing programme, turning software change into security decisions the business can stand behind.
About Northern Gritstone
Northern Gritstone is an investment company dedicated to supporting ambitious science and technology businesses that are rooted in the North of England and global in outlook. Its philosophy is ‘profit with purpose’ combining strong returns for investors with wider positive, societal and economic impact, including high-skilled job creation and regional growth. Chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill, the company has made 55 investments to date in some of the UK’s most exciting future businesses.
Northern Gritstone works alongside NG Innovation Services (NGIS), its high-performance growth experts for early-stage science and technology companies. The five functions within NGIS connect ambitious company founders with funding and expertise to quickly scale their businesses. For more information, please go to: https://www.northern-gritstone.com
About Auriga Cyber Ventures
Auriga Cyber Ventures is a leading European venture capital fund dedicated to cybersecurity startups. Founded by Auriga Partners alongside successful cybersecurity entrepreneurs, it backs ambitious founders from pre-seed to Series A and leverages a unique network of more than 100 cybersecurity operators. Across its two funds, Auriga Cyber Ventures has invested in 27 companies spanning areas including AI Security, Identity, GRC, Post-Quantum Cryptography, Cloud Security and Web3 Security.
About PXN Ventures
PXN Ventures is the venture capital arm of PXN Group, formed as a result of two of the North’s best fund managers (Praetura Ventures and Par Equity) coming together to create an investor that the region deserves. With offices in Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds and London, we deliver world-class investment programmes at scale to help build the Northern economy, supporting founders across a diverse range of sectors, including deep tech, life sciences and software.
PXN Ventures is committed to backing early-stage founders across the North of the UK, with a long and growing list of northern success stories in our portfolio that have received early backing from PXN, including Modern Milkman, Phlo, AccessPay, Street Group and Advanced Electric Machines. As well as its EIS, VCT and institutional funds, including the GMC Life Sciences Fund II, PXN Ventures is the North West fund manager for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, which is managed on behalf of the British Business Bank.
About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II
Operated by the British Business Bank, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II) provides a mix of debt and equity funding. NPIF II will offer a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25k to £100k, debt finance from £100k to £2m and equity investment up to £5 million. It works alongside the Combined Authorities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), and Growth Hubs, as well as local intermediaries such as accountants, fund managers and banks, to support the North's smaller businesses at all stages of their development.
The funds in which the NPIF II invests are open to businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, City of Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees, South Teesside, Darlington, Durham, Northumberland, Tyneside, Sunderland.
Smaller Loans from £25,000 to £100,000 – GC Business Finance & River Capital (North West), Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) (Yorkshire and Humber) and NEL Fund Managers (North East)
Business Loans from £100,000 to £2m – FW Capital (North West), Mercia (Yorkshire and Humber) and NEL Fund Managers (North East)
Equity Finance up to £5m – PXN Ventures (North West), Mercia (Yorkshire and Humber), and Maven Capital Partners (North East)
Applications for funding are made directly to the relevant fund managers who can be contacted via the NPIF II webpages www.northernpowerhouseinvestmentfund.co.uk
*Research conducted on behalf of Cytix by Opinion Matters between 28.07.2026 - 03.08.2026.
Sample: 250 UK IT security leaders (aged 25+) (e.g. CISOs / Chief Information Security Officers, Heads / Directors of IT Security, VPs of IT security, VPs of Information Security, Directors of Application Security, Directors of Product Security, Heads of AppSec, AppSec Leads & Heads of IT Security Engineering) working in companies employing 1,000+ people, who have an in-house software development team. Opinion Matters abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS code of conduct and ESOMAR principles. Opinion Matters is also a member of the British Polling Council.
