hello@pivotlabs.vc Supporting founders building around defence and security challenges across NATO 2022-01-01 UK UK Adrian Jones Adrian's picture Partner Mark Adams Adams Mark Mark's picture Partner unlocking talent potential OSINT cybersecurity cybersecurity startups AI startups AI spinouts incubation incubators technology startups emerging technology renewable energy startups unconventional compute early-stage startups mentoring angel investment angels investment investment strategy inclusive startup ecosystem technology Critical National Infrastructure CNI

About Us

Supporting first time founders

Who We Are

Pivot Labs helps people pivot their careers into entrepreneurship

  • Supporting founders building around defence and security challenges across NATO
  • Supporting defence & security executives from across the NATO alliance pivoting careers into entrepreneurship
  • Helping specialist deep tech, deftech & dual-use investors find unique dealflow
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founder connections

mentoring sessions

hours free mentoring

startups invested

Services

Mentoring

Free 1-to-1 mentoring for anyone exploring a career in entrepreneurship

Community

Access to a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and friendly support, people who know the journey ahead of you

Business models

Advice on getting the right business model for your startup

Investment strategy

Friendly advice and connections to help you map the network

Get in touch!

Get in touch and start planning your future career launch

Contact us

Portfolio

Critical Infrastructure

Safeguarding essential utilities from cyber and supply effects while maintaining operational continuity for the good of society

Public Health

Data sharing with robust data protection and anonymised health information for vital medical advances

Digital Identities

Balancing accessibility with strong safeguards against identity theft and unauthorized access

Cybersecurity Defence

Collaborative platforms which connect cybersecurity expertise with operational organisations for information defence against emerging threats

Civilian Defence

Societal protection against political and economic threats

Automated Intelligence

Decision-making integrated with automated reasoning engines and knowledge systems

Data analytics

Deep information analytics, AI, data sharing, data privacy, knowledge marketplaces

Threat intelligence

Unique insights for the purpose of major information advantage

Network effects

Advantages to be applied to advanced persistent adversaries.

Testimonials

Ceo & Founder

Adrian and Mark have built an impressive community of people who are leaders in their field and still vested in the ideas of public service. I’ve had many really helpful conversations with people in the community that have led on to either new opportunities or helped to inform where I’m at and where I could go.

Founder

Pivot Labs helped us to create our pitch deck and route to market, helping us understand what investors look for, how to articulate what we do and how to explain why it will be a success. It was obvious that Adrian and Mark are experts in business growth, and have a perspective that encompasses all the various stakeholders and groups you need to impress in order to grow quickly and safely. Because of them, we've reached out to 15 of our potential clients months earlier than we had originally planned, and have started to understand real world examples of why people would use our product, and how it should be developed. This is helping us to understand our target audience better, which makes our product and investor outreach more likely to succeed. We've also been introduced to people who have kindly given up their time to review our materials and refer us to others; the network is full of people who are genuinely helpful.

Founder

It has been invaluable to be part of the Pivot Labs community of passionate, curious, influencing changemakers. I am looking forward to being more involved as my start-up evolves. I am particularly grateful for the ongoing support, the positive nudges and advice from Adrian and Mark -who genuinely want you to do well and make progress. This has been very helpful to me as entrepreneurship can be a solitary journey at times!

Founder

We connected with pivot labs towards the end of our zinc venture builder programme. It’s a supportive and active community that shares insights and updates regularly. Many members are in different industries to us which is actually a real strength - multiplying networks gives much more reach. Mark and Adrian have been great at making suggestions and connecting us up

Entrepreneur

Adrian and Mark at Pivot Labs have provided both structure and constructive challenge to an unusual founder story in a way that I've not seen offered elsewhere. As well as the advice they have given on my specific case (technical, converting conversations, testing ideas) the connection to a wider ecosystem of like-minded individuals and investors in the UK technology and innovation space has helped me both learn and feel part of a wider community. The experience has been a wholly positive one for me and I'm grateful for their input.

Founder

We started our pre-seed fund raise in January around the same time we were introduced to Adrian and Mark at Pivot Labs. Their Community was an invaluable part of our fundraising efforts and we had ten quality meetings with dual use investors. Each meeting provided excellent feedback to allow us to refine our pitch, make adjustments to our business model and dramatically improve our chances of success. Pivot Labs also provides us with other resources such as channel partner introductions, a pool of talent for new hires and general advisory feedback. Adrian and Mark make themselves available weekly for check-ins as required and are always on line to provide specific feedback/introductions on request which has been a huge help as we execute our go to market strategy. They are a pleasure to work with and I look forward to continuing our relationship as we grow and seek a seed investment round next year

Founder

Working with Pivot Labs has been extremely valuable. Adrian and Mark are great - they've plugged us into their Slack community, connecting us directly with a key customer and an investor in the web3 space. They've given us spot-on advice for building our community, understanding our market better, and getting a better understanding on who our customers and target investors are. Very thankful to them for their practical help.

Founder

Pivot Labs helped me streamline my pitch, make the most of initial investor meetings, and gave me some down-to-earth reassurance that helped me move my early stage startup to the crucial first fundraising stage.

Founder

The Dual-Use ecosystem is quite disjointed, particularly in providing a shared, informal space for representatives across UK cyber / tech startups, Government (current and former) and Industry to engage. Pivot Labs has provided a unique platform for this type of engagement and network building which has led to key introductions with target customer and investment stakeholders.

Entrepreneur

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a background in government or national security, but not yet quite ready to take the jump to founder, Pivot Labs still has a lot to offer. With useful posts on the Slack channel around innovation and S&T and a supportive community, Pivot Labs provides the insights and springboard for when you’re ready to take the plunge – making connections with potential co-founders, for example, or getting early guidance and inspiration to re-orientate from HMG to being your own boss!

Team

Adrian Jones

Mark Adams

Frequently Asked Questions

Who do I need to be to join Pivot Labs?

There is no ‘normal’. If you’re the sort of person who can take an idea and work on it, we’re here to help you. You need to be determined and methodical. Developing a technology startup involves a lot hard work, connecting, networking, talking, meeting. You have to be prepared to wear a lot of hats. If you’re easily distracted by technology this may not be for you.

Does Pivot Labs have costs or application fees?

No, we don’t charge anything to get connected with the Pivot Labs ecosystem. Get in touch, we’ll talk and work out how to help and how to get connected.

I’m not sure Entrepreneurship is right for me, can you help?

This is how we love to work. Fill in the Contact Us form and we’ll explore your future career together.

What do I need to do to be a successful startup founder?

You need to be determined and methodical. Developing a technology startup involves a lot hard work, connecting, networking, talking, meeting. You have to make you successful.

What does Pivot Labs get out of this?

Aside from the fun and experience one day we’ll raise a fund to do this with more of our time

Contact

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