Client Context

Our client is an early-stage venture capital fund investing across industries and supporting a growing portfolio of companies. As the fund continued to scale, leadership wanted greater confidence in cyber resilience, governance, and readiness, both internally and across key operational dependencies.

The fund operates in a fast-moving investment environment where speed, trust, and accuracy are critical. Like many investment funds, our client relies on lean teams and external partners, making cyber governance and operational controls especially important as operations and transaction volumes increase.

Investor communications and capital calls are central to daily operations, meaning cyber risk must be managed without slowing execution or adding unnecessary complexity.

The Problem

The engagement was initiated following an attempted phishing event connected to the broader investment ecosystem. The attempt leveraged the credibility of a major financial institution within the transaction chain, reflecting how sophisticated social engineering attacks increasingly target trust-based financial workflows.

Leadership needed to respond quickly, both internally and externally, with clear answers:

• Was their fund compromised?

• Could any internal issues affect other transactions?

• What changes were required to reduce exposure going forward?

Our Approach

Gravitas conducted a time-bound, framework-informed cyber security assessment tailored to a lean investment fund operating model.

The assessment:

• Rapidly reviewed Google Workspace, capital call workflows, and critical third-party providers

• Validated controls against SEC-aligned, NIST/ISO-informed best practices, applied pragmatically

• Focused on process integrity, governance, and assurance, rather than deep technical re-engineering

• Delivered executive-ready conclusions quickly, enabling confident decision-making without disruption

The Results

The assessment delivered immediate, decision-ready value:

• Confirmed no evidence of compromise within the client’s environment

• Enabled leadership to respond quickly and confidently to a financial institution in the transaction chain, confirming that no internal issues would impact other transactions

• Identified that the primary exposure was process and assurance-related, not technical failure

• Delivered 5–6 prioritized improvements, staged across:

  • 0–3 months to lock in fundamentals

  • 3–12 months to introduce lightweight enhancements

• Strengthened confidence in capital call integrity, vendor oversight, and cyber governance

Why Gravitas?

This engagement highlights Gravitas Consulting’s differentiated approach to cyber security advisory:

• Framework-aligned, not framework-bound

• Designed for executives and investment professionals, not just IT teams

• Fast, focused, outcome-driven

• Emphasis on practical controls over heavyweight tooling

• Built for real-world fund operations and investor trust