Innovate UK Business Connect, part of Innovate UK, has announced that its annual CyberASAP Demo Day will return to London on 25th February 2026.
Now in its ninth year, the CyberASAP Demo Day gives investors and industry stakeholders the opportunity to get a first look at cutting-edge cyber security proof of concepts and prototypes developed by academic teams from UK universities. This year’s cohort addresses a wide range of cyber security issues from privacy, ransomware and quantum security to money laundering and controlling harmful material sharing amongst children.
UK government-backed CyberASAP (Cyber Security Academic Start-Up Accelerator Programme), which is funded by the UK Government Department for Science Innovation and Technology and delivered by Innovate UK, turns publicly funded academic research into real-world cyber security solutions, helping the UK stay secure while driving growth in a high-value sector. The programme has so far engaged academics from over 70 universities (84% outside London and 76% non-Russell Group) across the UK through their journeys to commercialisation.
The 2026 CyberASAP Demo Day will showcase demos from 14 of the UK’s most exciting academics, including:
- Cardiff University: CipherGrit: Real-time ransomware detection
- Coventry University: AI-Driven Semi-Automated Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment for automotive cyber security (AutoTARA)
- De Montfort University: PrivacyEye: Controlling Harmful Multimedia Sharing Among Children
- Lancaster University: Photarix: Room-temperature, telecoms-wavelength single photon sources for quantum-secure encryption
- Teesside University: MediVault: A Privacy-preserving Data Collaboration Platform for Healthcare
- Teesside University: GUARD: Generated Unauthentic Ad Recognition & Detection
- Ulster University: IoT-Driven Cyber Security Framework for Intrusion Detection in the Internet of Drones (Drone Sentinel)
- University of Birmingham: SynapTrack – Identifying Money Laundering on the Blockchain
- University of East London: AssetGuard+: AI-Driven Asset Criticality Classification with Generative AI, Automated Risk Assessment, and Privacy-Preserving Analytics
- University of Edinburgh: Cairnlytics – Understand Open-Source Risk
- University of Greenwich: Presenza – Immersive and continuous privacy-preserving age assurance for XR users
- University of Portsmouth: LockNest: The Ultimate Protection for Spam and Threat Containment
- University of Sheffield: SecureCall: A Caller Authentication and Encrypted Communication Solution
- University of Wolverhampton: SoC4SMEs: Delivering Open-Source Security Operations Center (SoC) Solutions as a Service to Strengthen Cyber Security for SMEs in the UK
Dr. Emma Fadlon, Co-Director of CyberASAP, Innovate UK Business Connect, who will also deliver a welcome address at the event, said: “It’s always exciting to take our cohorts to Demo Day, where they get a taste of engaging with investors and other industry stakeholders to gain feedback and in some cases, even leading to early investment.”
The 2026 CyberASAP Demo Day will also feature a showcase of successful alumni from previous cohorts, highlighting teams that have progressed beyond proof of concept to form high-growth spin-outs, secure follow-on investment and bring cyber security solutions to market. The showcase gives investors direct access to founders, insights into commercially validated technologies emerging from UK universities and early visibility of scalable opportunities addressing pressing cyber issues facing organisations nationally.
You can find out more about the event and register here (acceptance subject to organiser approval).
