One 21–22 May 2025, a newly established investment community, Halceon, working with partners at FORGE, brought together a group of startups in the cyber, national security, and defence sectors for an intensive two-day programme in Cheltenham. The event featured workshops and investor engagement sessions aimed at accelerating early-stage companies working in mission-critical industries.
The bootcamp was attended by four pioneering startups across cyber, national security, and defence, who were joined by over 30 sector-focused investors, and key ecosystem representatives from government and the private sector.
Halceon is a new investor community, co-founded by Richard Yorke and Melania Edwards to support the next generation of ventures in cyber, national resilience, and defence. FORGE is a division of Red Penguin Ventures, led by Rupert Cook, alongside Chris Hamilton, and plays a vital role in nurturing commercially viable cyber startups.
Halceon and FORGE have joined forces to create a more engaged approach to investment, gathering startups together for this bootcamp to accelerate startup development and ensure investor readiness. The bootcamp offered participants tailored sessions on go-to-market strategies, financial modelling, technical validation, and brand development. Startups also benefited from one-on-one feedback with experienced angel investors and ecosystem leaders.
“The 1:1 format was highly effective, allowing us to cover a lot of ground and connect insights across sessions,” said the CTO of Tulpa, one of the participating startups. “We gained invaluable wisdom from the assembled experts. More events like this would greatly benefit the wider ecosystem.”
The bootcamp ended with a pitch session and networking event attended by key representatives from government agencies, investors, and industry leaders who all share a passion for strengthening the UK’s cyber, national security, and defence innovation landscape.
Both groups aim to bring something new to the ecosystem. Halceon is a network of investors who are deeply mission driven, bringing both capital and expertise from leaders and exited founders in cyber, national security, and defence. It does not act as a gatekeeper, and is not a business running an angel network, it is just the angels coming together to support investment activity. They have extensive experience in this field, as founders and investors.
FORGE is a new initiative built on many years of experience building and investing in cyber businesses. The two organisations together hope to support real innovations in the cyber and national security ecosystem and increase the chances of success for participating startups.
“Halceon is about accelerating the ideas and people that will shape a more secure, stable future,” said Melania Edwards, Partner at Halceon. “We’re backing a better future – not just for investors, but for the systems and societies we rely on every day.”
“There has never been a more important time to be unlocking angel investment into cyber, defence-tech and national security start-ups.” said Rich Yorke, Partner at Halceon. “We have a wealth of talent, expertise across the UK ecosystem as evidenced by the mission-driven founders we are working with and we are excited about the investment opportunities being presented. Working with FORGE has enabled us to not only qualify deals but to understand how we can support the founders we back, to succeed
Looking ahead, Halceon will host its public launch on 27 June 2025. From its first investment – an early-stage defence tech company already gaining traction across sensitive sectors – to its trusted relationships with accelerators, investors, and government-linked entities, Halceon has quietly built significant early momentum.
The group plans to run deep-dive investment sessions, closed-door deal review panels, and thematic convenings focused on everything from cyber readiness to dual-use applications of AI. Interested in learning more about Halceon? Contact [email protected].
