Ossprey Closes £2M to Accelerate Product Development

The big picture: Ossprey, a London-based software supply chain security company, has closed an oversubscribed £2 million pre-seed funding round. The firm helps organizations prevent malicious code from reaching production environments.

Why it matters:

• AI-driven risk: The rapid adoption of AI coding assistants is dramatically increasing the volume of code entering production, creating new opportunities for attackers to embed malicious software within trusted open-source packages.
• Open-source vulnerability: Approximately 90% of enterprise software relies on open-source components, making the software supply chain a critical attack vector for malware delivered through legitimate development workflows.
• Pace of modern engineering: Traditional security approaches are not designed for the speed of modern software development, forcing organizations to choose between rapid deployment and robust security.

How it works:

• Proactive scanning: Ossprey continuously scans open-source packages for malicious code before they are integrated by developers, securing software without impeding engineering workflows.
• Rapid threat detection: The platform has expanded its capabilities to include continuous public scanning across major open-source ecosystems, frequently identifying newly published malicious packages faster than the wider industry.
• Team and platform growth: Following the funding round, Ossprey has expanded its engineering and commercial teams to seven members and significantly enhanced its platform capabilities.

The catch: The software supply chain security market is highly competitive, with numerous established vendors and emerging startups vying for market share. Ossprey will need to continuously innovate and demonstrate superior detection accuracy and speed to differentiate itself and maintain its leadership in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.