"Unity is strength" is a motto that has been used by various states and entities throughout history.

It appears on mottos and coats of arms of countries such as Belgium, Bulgaria, Haiti, Malaysia, Georgia and Bolivia.

It is derived from a Greek phrase attributed to Homer, Greek poet credited as the writer of the Iliad and the Odyssey, dating to roughly 850 BC, 

Nowadays commonly used in many different languages and countries, the sentence is still so impactful because of its eternal relevance. Values such as solidarity and fraternity are the ones tying humanity all together. Without these, we are alone, we are weaker, we are defenceless.

If humans didn't get together to survive the blizzard of the Ice Age, if leaders didn't rise up to guide entire nations, if we didn't creates unions to assure the peace and development of countries around the word, humanity would still be figuring out how to make fire in a cold, lonely world.

It is following the very human idea, the instinct even, of solidarity, that Plexal, in partnership with the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, is welcoming 42 startups and scale-ups to Cyber Runway’s Grow and Scale streams.

United for Innovation

The UK’s largest cyber accelerator, Cyber Runway, delivered by Plexal and funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in partnership with Deloitte and the Centre for Secure Information Technologies, has welcomed 42 startups and scaleups to its Grow and Scale streams. Plexal was founded in 2017 as the innovation centre at Here East and is owned by clients of specialist real estate investment advisory company Delancey.

Comprising two separate cohorts, the fresh talent joins an active alumni network of over 300 startups, which has been built in the two years since Cyber Runway launched. The significance of this rapid community expansion shouldn’t be understated, particularly given its breadth of businesses, with 50% of companies are based outside of London and the South East, 50% are female-led and 43% are ethnic minority-led. This aligns with Plexal’s mission of closing the gap between organisations and commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) to increase representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds within organisations, provide them with equal opportunities by meeting their needs and creating inclusive cultures within workspaces.

Designed to address some of the biggest challenges facing cyber security, such as diversity, inclusion and regional representation, the Cyber Runway programme supports the most promising innovators at various stages of growth.

“We’re excited to welcome two cohorts to Cyber Runway’s Grow and Scale streams, helping some of the UK’s most promising young companies to develop their technologies, and in turn strengthen the UK’s digital economy and drive greater cyber resilience.” commented Saj Huq, CCO and Head of Innovation at Plexal.

Upwards streams

The accelerator’s Grow stream will focus on getting startups to nail their product-market fit, get commercialisation support and lay the foundations for growth, while the Scale stream will help scaleups and high-growth startups blast away any barriers to growth nationally and around the world.

Further demonstrating the value of community and network, Safetech Innovations expanded its Romanian operation into the UK with a security operations centre in Plexal Stratford, while other cohort members have been involved in additional government-backed programmes such as NCSC For Startups.

Along with stream-specific activities, Cyber Runway will also connect the cohorts with investors, security leaders and the government to support them in developing technologies which address commercial needs. These companies will also receive support with becoming more diverse and inclusive.