• Edinburgh-based firm now backed by international investors
• This follows UK government award for its cutting-edge work

Scottish startup Cyan Forensics, which develops digital forensic technology to help law enforcement catch criminals faster, has closed a £900,000 investment round led by Mercia Fund Managers, bringing its total funding to nearly £1.5million since it was founded in 2016.

Edinburgh-based Cyan Forensics’ technology finds time-critical digital evidence in minutes instead of days, helping police in highly sensitive investigations such as child sexual exploitation and counter-terrorism. The company is currently working with customers across law enforcement agencies which are seeing success using the technology operationally.

The company recently won an award from the UK government for its pioneering work, which recognised Cyan Forensics’ collaboration in delivering practical solutions to safeguard the nation.

This latest funding round saw American private investor Don Macleod, a director of Broadcom and former CEO of National Semiconductor, join existing investors Mercia Fund Managers and The Scottish Investment Bank, which both provided funding following their initial investments.

Cyan Forensics, which operates in a market that is expected to grow at 15.9% CAGR, to $9.68billion by 2022* has achieved significant progress with its range of digital forensics products and now has a team of 10 highly skilled professionals, including former law enforcement and military professionals.

Ian Stevenson, CEO of Cyan Forensics, said: “This latest round of investment will enable us to take full advantage of the market opportunities here in the UK and start developing our business internationally, as well as exploring other opportunities for our technology in cyber security. The whole team is excited about the success we’re seeing in our first operational deployments and the opportunities in front of us to contribute to public safety.”

Paul Devlin, Investment Manager at Mercia, said: “We’re delighted to continue to support Cyan Forensics. This is the latest seed investment, having first backed the team as a spinout from Edinburgh Napier University, they are making excellent progress as they begin to scale up. We believe the business has the potential to make a real difference to the speed at which agencies are able to investigate highly sensitive crime using its innovative forensic technology. The customer base of government and law enforcement agencies is highly impressive and places the company in a great position for future growth.”

Kerry Sharp, Director of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: “Scottish Enterprise has supported Cyan Forensics from an early stage and it is great to see the progress that has been achieved to develop and commercialise new technology in the area of digital forensics. This round of investment will provide the capital to start expansion internationally and into adjacent markets. We look forward to continuing to work with the company, both from an investment perspective and through our account management support, to deliver its long-term growth ambitions.”