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He arrested a hacker, then spent 18 months clearing his own name. Now he’s a cybersecurity VC.
Former Secret Service agent raises second $250M cybersecurity venture fund.
“Stephen Ward, a former Secret Service agent and Home Depot CISO, is preparing a second fund of roughly $250 million for Brightmind Partners.”
Why it matters
A $250 million cybersecurity VC fund signals growing capital allocation to infrastructure security, partly driven by AI and supply chain vulnerabilities. This shapes which startups get funded and which problems attract engineering talent away from core chip design work.
AI score breakdown
#26 that day2.30/ 10
A composite of 2.30/10 put this story at #26 for Sunday, November 8, 2026, driven mostly by regional relevance (5/10) and economic impact (3/10).
Technology breakthrough · weight 30%1/10
Economic impact · weight 25%3/10
Job impact · weight 20%2/10
Regional relevance · weight 15%5/10
Policy & geopolitics · weight 10%1/10
Composite is the weighted sum of the five dimensions. How scoring works →
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