Sheffield-based Sitehop, the startup company “future-proofing” against quantum-powered cyber attacks, said it has raised an additional £7.5 million, led by Northern Gritstone, taking its total funding to £13.5 million.
The round also included continued support from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Manta Ray, Mercia Ventures, and NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance, managed by Mercia as part of the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).
Founded in Sheffield by CEO Melissa Chambers and CTO Ben Harper, Sitehop is already working with major partners including BT.
“We recently completed a successful proof-of-concept trial at BT’s Gemini test facility, a replica of BT’s live network and one of Europe’s most advanced telecoms testing environments,” said Sitehop.
“Sitehop is also the first external company ever granted access to Gemini, a facility typically reserved for BT’s internal development teams.
“Our technology is now live with a tier-one carrier across five countries, proving its scalability and reliability in real-world deployments.”
Chambers said: “Sitehop is proving the critical need for future-proof encryption, demonstrated by our early customer traction globally.
“As a Sheffield-founded company, this investment from Northern Gritstone supports our mission to grow and scale in the region and build world-leading sovereign encryption capability right here in the UK, accelerating international expansion while keeping the UK at the forefront of cybersecurity innovation.”
Harper said: “Our mission has always been to deliver world-class security that is ultra-low latency, hardware-enforced, and resilient against future threats like quantum computing.
“Partnering with Northern Gritstone enables us to accelerate our mission while strengthening the UK’s sovereign capability in critical network security. Their ‘profit with purpose’ ethos resonates strongly with us, creating technology that drives global growth and delivers lasting social and economic value.”
Northern Gritstone CEO Duncan Johnson said: “Our focus is always on ‘profit with purpose’, helping to support visionary companies with strong intellectual property to grow out of the North of England.
“Sitehop is an example of the incredible deep tech innovation coming out of Sheffield’s innovation cluster, providing game-changing technology to support businesses in future-proofing their cybersecurity protection. We’re delighted to be backing Melissa and Ben in an area as important as cryptography.”
Nick Kingsbury, Partner, Amadeus Capital Partners, said: “As data volumes and cyber threats grow, the need for the ultra-high throughput and low latency that Sitehop delivers means that the company is seeing strong demand from customers in many sectors. This funding gives the company the ability to deliver on that demand.”
Chris Borrett, Mercia Ventures, said: “Melissa and Ben have addressed a problem that even the biggest tech companies have failed to solve. We believe Sitehop is poised to become a major UK success story, and we are excited to partner with them on this journey.” NPIF and Mercia first invested in Sitehop in 2022.
Debbie Sorby, Senior Manager at British Business Bank, said: “Eight years on from the launch of the first Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, we continue to see the remarkable impact businesses are making on the Northern economy.
“The Fund was designed to support innovative companies across the region, helping them to grow and thrive. Sitehop is a standout example of this success, now one of the UK’s leading technology businesses.”