ActiveNav, a provider of data privacy and governance software solutions, helps organisations discover, remediate, and manage their data. The business had seen significant expansion in recent years, boosted by the launch of its Cloud service in 2023, which enabled easier data monitoring and governance. ActiveNav’s software had been adopted by hundreds of leading organisations to help them control sensitive data and support compliance and risk in line with data privacy regulations.

Launched in 2022, Actfore addressed data mining on cyber incidents, enabling organisations to quickly respond to regulators and protect individuals impacted by sensitive data exfiltration. Its solution aimed to deliver greater speed, accuracy, and cost control compared to traditional manual review offerings in the market. Since launch, it had seen rapid growth and widespread adoption amid growing recognition of the importance of agile solutions to quickly analyse compromised data.

The deal followed two previous investments from Gresham House Ventures into ActiveNav in 2019 and 2021, having been introduced to the business via ScaleUp Group, an Advisory/Investment firm specialising in obtaining Series A funding for early-stage businesses. Following the latest investment, Gresham House Ventures had a total stake in DDS of £12.6mn. Across both divisions, the investment would be used to drive product innovation, expand market reach, and strengthen customer relationships.

The investment continued a busy period of activity for Gresham House Ventures, which recently completed a £10mn investment into event accreditation provider Accredit Solutions. This followed a successful exit from logistics and warehousing business Master Removers Group for a 3.4x multiple, as well as new investments into transport intelligence provider CitySwift and open banking platform Ozone API.

Trevor Hope, chief investment officer at Gresham House Ventures, said: “Both ActiveNav and Actfore have delivered impressive growth in recent years, with our previous investments enabling widespread adoption of their software solutions in businesses and public sector organisations worldwide. With a compelling opportunity set over the years ahead, this is an exciting time to provide further capital and we look forward to working with both businesses as they continue their positive trajectory.”

Peter Baumann, CEO and founder of DDS Group and ActiveNav, said: “We are thrilled to embark on this next phase of growth with further support from Gresham House Ventures. Its previous support for ActiveNav has played a vital role in driving our recent expansion and this latest investment will enable us to increase the reach of our strengthened cloud offering internationally.”

Christian Geyer, CEO and founder of Actfore, said: “This investment represents an important step in Actfore’s growth and will accelerate our mission to revolutionise the way organisations address data mining for cyber incidents. Gresham House Ventures has an outstanding track record of working with innovative businesses like ours, so we are excited to work closely with the team to deliver further success in the years to come as the market continues to evolve.”