For many growing tech companies, good security is no longer good enough.

At LeftBrain, we work with VC-backed scaleups that are moving quickly. As these companies grow, they face new kinds of pressure: more clients, more funding, and more scrutiny. Risk management becomes a real enabler of growth, not just something to tick off a list.

In this conversation, our CEO Charlie Naughton-Rumbo explains why UK scaleups are rethinking their compliance budgets, what has changed across the supply chain, and why the best security strategies rarely begin with tools.

Can you introduce yourself and your role at LeftBrain?

I’m Charlie Naughton-Rumbo, CEO of LeftBrain. I’m also a Chartered Cyber Security Professional. My specialism is governance and risk management, which is a favourite topic of mine believe it or not!

What kind of scaleups typically come to LeftBrain for support?

Most of the time, people get in touch when they are facing pressure from their supply chain. They have received a due diligence questionnaire that is long, detailed, and full of questions about governance, access controls, and risk management. These are areas they might not have focused on yet.

They come to us asking if we can help them answer it. The answer is “yes”. But more importantly, we help them put the right systems in place so they are prepared next time too. It is not just about passing one check. It is about making sure they are set up properly for the future.

Where are these companies usually in their funding journey?

Usually, they are at Series A or Series B. They have built a strong product and are seeing early growth. Now they are attracting bigger customers or preparing for a funding round, and they are being asked to show that they are a safe company to work with.

Why is this shift happening now?

I call it the snowball effect. The tech and security landscape has changed a lot in recent years. These days, if you want to do business, you need a full-company approach to information security.

It starts with a large enterprise that has a mature security programme. They send a questionnaire to their supplier. That supplier improves their setup and then starts asking questions of their own suppliers. It rolls on from there.

Eventually, if you are anywhere in that supply chain, this pressure will land on you. That is why frameworks like ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials are becoming standard across all kinds of companies, not just the big ones.

How does LeftBrain support companies with tighter budgets?

The key is to start with governance. I know that is not what most people expect. Often the first assumption is that cyber security means buying software or rolling out tools. But the first step should be to look at your business goals and ask what might get in the way of achieving them.

That is where risk lives. Once you know your risks, then you can work out how to address them. That is when the tools come in. But the tools should be a response to risk, not the starting point.

Governance helps you make smarter decisions. It gives you the context you need to justify investments and to move quickly when the time comes. If you build that foundation early, you will not be caught out later.

Any final advice for scaleups wanting to grow securely?

Keep it simple. You do not need to spend weeks on it. You can take half a day to jot down who is responsible for what, make a list of key risks, and decide where to start. That gives you something solid to build on.

When the pressure hits, you are leaning into a framework that already exists rather than scrambling to catch up. It also stops you wasting money on tools that do not really solve the problem.

Governance and risk management might not sound exciting, but they give everything else structure. That is what we are trying to do at LeftBrain. We want to make these foundations useful and valuable for growing teams. Ideally, we make them feel a bit less boring too.