Defence investor GALLOS raises £35m amid boom for security start-ups

A defence investor which counts Sir Jeremy Fleming, the former director of GCHQ, among its advisers will this week unveil a £35m fundraising, underlining the surging appetite to fund the next wave of security and resilience start-ups.

Sky News has learnt that GALLOS Technologies, which was co-founded by a pair of senior former national security and special forces leaders, will announce on Monday that it has landed $50m (£35m) in a round jointly led by Ventura Capital and Aberdeen Investments, part of the London-listed asset management group.

Lansdowne Partners, the British-based hedge fund and asset manager, also participated in the raise as an existing GALLOS investor.

GALLOS was established as a technology start-up builder and investor, and has backed businesses including StirlingX, a drone operator and data intelligence company.

Its latest capital-raise comes as defence technology companies rush to access more funding amid a boom in demand for their products, fuelled by rapid and far-reaching changes to the ways in which modern warfare is being conducted.

In addition to Sir Jeremy, GALLOS's advisory roster includes Gaven Smith, a former chief technology officer at GCHQ, and Greg Smithberger, his opposite number at the US National Security Agency.

The company was founded by Josh Burch, a former senior national security official, and Dean Jones, who also serves as CEO of StirlingX.

"The world faces rapidly growing and evolving digital threats, fuelled by geopolitical instability and sharpened by the speed at which new and emerging technologies are being turned against us," Sir Jeremy said.

"GALLOS's work enhances our ability to protect both people and businesses, in the UK and other allied nations."

The company said its new funding would be used to back further start-ups, as well as investment in its own platform.

Its portfolio also includes AI Score, an enterprise AI compliance, governance and optimisation platform.

Mr Burch said the GALLOS platform "combines frontline national security experience with the ability to build, back and scale companies at pace".

In recent weeks, British defence tech companies including Cambridge Aerospace, a missile and drone interceptor, have announced large funding rounds, underlining the appetite to back sophisticated businesses in the space.

Mo El Husseiny, managing partner of Ventura Capital, said GALLOS was "filling out national defence and resilience white spaces with great purpose", describing it as "the go-to platform for security, defence and resilience at a time when both the public and private sectors demand pace, quality and innovation".

GALLOS said the funding round remained open for further participation by a small number of additional strategic investors.

The valuation at which the new funds were being raised was not disclosed.

Nalaka De Silva, head of private market solutions, Aberdeen Investments and portfolio manager, abrdn Global Private Markets Fund, said GALLOS had developed "a distinctive ability to identify resilience gaps, validate market need and build companies with real strategic relevance".

(c) Sky News 2026: Defence investor GALLOS raises £35m amid boom for security start-ups